5 Superhero Rivalries That Make Spider-Man and Green Goblin Look Like Pals

Superhero comics have given readers some of the most heated rivalries ever, but few of them can match the hatred that Spider-Man and Green Goblin have for each other. While Norman Osborn and Peter Parker have been working together since the Sin-Eater took away Osborn’s evil a few years ago, their longtime feud is one of the most storied in comic history. The two of them have been battling it out for decades, leading to some of the biggest stories ever. Peter and Norman’s rivalry has become shockingly personal over the years, as Osborn’s insanity has spurred him to do the most terrible things to his foe. It’s a legendary rivalry, yet in the pantheon of superheroes, it’s nowhere near the most white-hot out there.

Marvel and DC Comics have both created some of the best hero/villain pairings out there, giving readers rivalries that have become iconic. While an argument can be made that Spidey and Gobbie’s rivalry is the most brutal out there, there are others that make the two of them look like pals. These five superhero/supervillain rivalries make Spider-Man and Green Goblin look tame, feuds that have reached amazing levels of hatred.

5) Superman and Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor and Superman’s rivalry has never gotten as deadly as Spidey and Gobbie’s, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t altogether more heated. Lex Luthor is DC’s most twisted genius, but he first came to Metropolis to try and do good. However, his arrogance led to him believing that no one else should be praised in the city but him and Superman’s appearance broke his mind. While Supes doesn’t hate Lex – they were best friends in Smallville and Clark sees the good in everyone – like Peter has hated Norman over the years, Lex’s own burning rage for the Man of Steel makes Osborn’s look cool by comparison. Lex will do anything to destroy the Last Son of Krypton, hating the person who took the love that he thought was his. Lex’s hatred for the Kryptonian has defined the character in a way that has made him an icon; in fact, you can see Lex’s hatred of Superman in Norman’s hatred of the Wall-Crawler. I think the fact that Supes doesn’t hate Lex, like Peter hates Norman, makes their rivalry even more interesting, allowing creators to take it in various directions that you don’t often see in these situations. It’s a more complex rivalry than it appears on the surface.

4) Reed Richards and Doctor Doom

Doctor Doom is about to hit the MCU and it looks like Marvel Studios is going to ignore his more important attribute – his hatred of Reed Richards. Doom and Reed are a pair in the Superman/Lex mold; they’re people who would make for perfect best friends, but one of their ego and rage makes it impossible. Victor Von Doom hates Reed for the simplest reason of them all – he makes Doom feel inadequate. Doom is a man who is completely driven by his arrogance and anyone who threatens that is an enemy. However, it goes even further with Reed. He’s become the boogeyman in Doom’s life, the person he blames everything on because he would never blame himself. Reed sees the good that Victor could do and is constantly disappointed that his old friend keeps making the worst decisions imaginable. Doom will sacrifice anything if he thinks it will hurt Reed; in fact, even when he does something good for Reed or the Richards family, Doom does it so that he can throw it in Reed’s face. There’s a pettiness to their rivalry that makes it so much better, setting it apart from some of the others on this list.

3) Wolverine and Sabretooth

Wolverine and Sabretooth are Marvel’s most bloody rivalry. One of things that you’ll find a lot on this list is feuds where the hero doesn’t really hate the villain, at least not really. This isn’t at all the case with Logan and Victor Creed. While the two have been friends numerous times over the years, or at the very least partners, Wolvie hates Creed with a burning passion. ‘Tooth goes out of his way to hurt Logan in the worst ways he can, all in an effort to make the hero more like him, making him responsible for the greatest losses in Logan’s life. See, what really makes their relationship so interesting is that Sabretooth is in love with Logan. He sees a kindred spirit in the other mutant and does his best to push Wolvie to become more like him. He wants the two of them to travel the world together, working as blood-soaked partners. It takes their feud to a different level than others; Creed believes that everything he does to Logan makes him tougher, trying to break the last of his humanity so the animal can take control. These two are looked in a death spiral unlike any other in comics.

2) Reverse-Flash and Barry Allen

Reverse-Flash was created as an evil opposite of the Flash, a tried and true trope in superhero comics. He was a stereotypical bad guy for a while, battling Barry Allen both on his own and as a member of groups like the Secret Society of Supervillains. However, he set himself apart from the rest of Allen’s foes by “killing” Iris Allen (she didn’t actually die and went to the future) and trying to kill his next wife Fiona, leading Barry to break his neck. This personal dimension to their conflict would become the focus for Reverse-Flash when he finally returned to life in the 21st century. Since The Flash: Rebirth, he has become the ultimate hater. He’s used his time-traveling powers to go back in time and mess with Barry’s life, to the extent that every major problem Allen has ever experienced has had Eobard Thawne somewhere behind it. His hatred for Barry has reached new levels of depravity, to the extent that his attacks on the Flash have become something of a meme. Allen is usually pretty even-keeled, but when Thawne shows up, he throws all of that out the window. He knows that the villain is out to do the worst things imaginable to his personal life and this has led to him going harder than he usually would against the evil speedster.

1) Batman and the Joker

Batman and the Joker are DC’s greatest rivalry and an argument can be made that it’s the best one ever. The Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime are different sides of the same coin, with Batman representing order and the Joker representing chaos. Their rivalry became the basis of nearly every other in comics, inspiring them all, and has grown in some terrifying directions over the years. The two of them hate each other with the kind of passion you can only get from two people who know each this well. Both of them are obsessed with defeating the other and will go to nearly any lengths to win. One of the fun things about their rivalry is that it’s the only one that truly gets Batman to question his methods, agonizing over whether he could kill his deadliest foe. This added dimension – the Caped Crusader knowing that he is somewhat culpable for the Joker’s crimes – is what puts it over the top of every other rivalry. It’s hard to find two people who hate each other more or have been as important to comic history as these two.

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