Superior Spider-Man and Friends: 6 of The Best Heroes Who Were Secretly Villains

We know it’s shocking–but not everyone who wears a mask is what they appear to be underneath. Take the new, “Superior” Spider-Man; he’s not exactly Prince Charming under there.So we got to thinking: When has this gimmick–the “villain stuck in a hero’s body” (to one extent or another) actually worked? You get things like Edison Rex, but since he’s an open book and the whole world knows he’s a villain who’s at least pretending or trying to be a hero, it’s a whole different thing. This is a bit more like Savage Dragon…but we’ll get to that.Bear in mind there will likely be spoilers ahead.We’re not going to count people who were good, and then turned evil later here–in comics, that list would be too long to bother with and, frankly, most of them turn back soon enough anyway. We’re talking about some bad, bad people who turn into heroes for one reason or another, and whose nefarious past isn’t revealed until later.Chime in to let us know who we missed!OzymandiasBooster Gold used to be here, but he was never a villain, just kind of a jerk before he became a superhero. Instead, we’ll use the guy who kind of embodies the trope to a lot of readers, although whether or not he counts is somewhat questionable, since he’s another one of those characters who started out as a fairly straightforward hero and morphed into a villain who believed himself to be doing the right thing.What keeps him on the list and leaves off Magneto, who had a similar character arc? Well, it’s simple – for Ozymandias, the fact that he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing was a central part of his character in the only story that really matters for the character. Magneto was a villain first and then got that backstory imposed on him later–and besides that, during the time he’s a villain, he rarely makes any effort to hide the fact.At any rate, Ozymandias’s face heel turn is Watchmen‘s culminating, and arguably most memorable moment.