Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular hero and has one of its most iconic rogues’ galleries. Villains like Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Carnage are among the most recognizable evildoers in comics. Like Spider-Man himself, most of his enemies are street-level villains who usually wouldn’t dream of threatening the Earth or the multiverse. Of course, supervillains are nothing if not power-hungry as they desperately try to reach godhood to squash the Wall-Crawler for good. In both the main Earth-616 universe and across the multiverse, there are alternate incarnations of Spider-Man’s enemies who became not just threats to the Web-Head, but all of creation, thanks to their immense power-ups.
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To see some of Marvel Comics’ most twisted villains become global and even multiversal threats is nothing short of terrifying.
7) Regent
The ruler of Earth-18119, Regent, is a powerful and cruel tyrant who eradicated the Avengers and New Warriors to ensure his reign would go unchallenged. Regent accomplished this using his suit, which mimics the superpowers of anyone he’s locked up in his prison, the Cellar. The heroes that Regent can siphon their abilities from include Cyclops, Storm, Professor X, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Justice, and Colossus. This world’s version of Spider-Man and his family were some of the only people willing to stand up to Regent’s tyrannical rule. This was, of course, an uphill battle, as Regent has proven strong enough to rip off the Hulk’s hand effortlessly.
6) The Battery
Electro has always been one of Spider-Man’s most powerful enemies. And, the Earth-1082 version of Electro became a threat to countless Spider-People across the multiverse. Working with another version of himself, Mike Dillon mapped the multiversal Web of Life and Destiny. He founded an army of Electros called the Electro-Verse. Using the Kree technology that created the Supreme Intelligence, Mike transformed himself into the Battery, a gigantic, powerful creature made of pure electricity. The Battery also began absorbing the minds and abilities of thousands of Electros. The Battery and his Electro-Verse army, which fuels him, threatened to destroy the multiversal Web-Warriors.
5) Ghost Goblin
The Multiversal Masters of Evil are among the most powerful supervillain teams in Marvel Comics. They include the cruelest and strongest villains from numerous alternate universes. One member was the Ghost Goblin of Earth-45863. This version of the Green Goblin sold his soul to Mephisto and became the host of the Spirit of Vengeance. After joining the Multiversal Masters of Evil, Ghost Goblin began conquering several worlds. Instead of Pumpkin Bombs, Ghost Goblin has Noggin Bombs, which are the decapitated flaming heads of hundreds of Ghost Riders that he’s slaughtered across the multiverse. With the immortality, super-strength, Hellfire, and Penance Stare of a Ghost Rider, Ghost Goblin is a terrifying and powerful villain.
4) Spot
In most iterations, the portal-creating villain Spot is treated as a joke and one of Spider-Man’s most pathetic enemies. However, the animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, set on Earth-1610B, presents a version of the Spot who’s a certified multiversal threat. By repeatedly exposing himself to the dark matter of Alchemex colliders from different universes, Spot can effortlessly travel the multiverse and create far more powerful portals. In visions of the future, Spot is shown to be decimating entire cities by making buildings and cars fall from the sky. And if he isn’t stopped, Spot will threaten to tear the fabric of the multiverse apart with his cosmic rampage.
3) King in Black Carnage
Carnage has always been one of the most terrifying villains in Marvel Comics, and there was a time when he ascended to godhood. Carnage sought absolute power by absorbing various versions of himself and Venom from across the multiverse. Carnage also absorbed the abilities of Ant-Man, Electro, Man-Thing, Andrea Benton, Wolverine, the Spot, and the Silver Surfer. Even worse, Carnage became the new God Butcher after he absorbed the mystical metal Uru and several Dwarves to create for himself the All-Blood the Necrospear. With all these mystical and cosmic abilities, Carnage effortlessly slaughtered Symbiote-infused Celestials and even stole the power from Knull, the primordial God of Symbiotes. The multiverse was in peril from this god-powered serial killer.
2) Goblin King
The Infinity Gauntlet is one of the most powerful weapons in existence, granting its user the ability to control all space, time, reality, minds, and souls in the universe. On Earth-14154, Norman Osborn obtained the Gauntlet, which he used to eradicate the Avengers and reshape the world in his twisted image. He also trapped Spider-Man in an infinite loop of reliving Gwen Stacy’s death. Not even Thanos could stand up to the Goblin King’s might. The Goblin King was only defeated because, in a madness-induced rage, he killed a younger version of his father, wiping himself from existence. Even if his own madness ultimately got the better of him, the Goblin King was practically omnipotent. He destroyed everyone who could have challenged him.
1) Master of Meta Mysterio
The most powerful version of Spider-Man’s illusion-casting enemy, Mysterio, is featured in the short educational miniseries How to Read Comics the Marvel Way. In the story, Mysterio discovers the all-powerful Cosmic Comic, which gives him complete control over the fourth wall. In this form, Mysterio can manipulate fate in any way he pleases, freeze people in time, grow to gigantic sizes, bring life to inanimate objects, and kill Spider-Man several times. Mysterio even nearly destroys the entire medium of comics. The only reason that Mysterio lost this god-like power is that the readers willed it out of him. Few villains in all of Marvel have reached this level of warping not just reality, but the entirety of the fourth wall.
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Courtesy of Kadokawa / Shosetsuka ni Naro
