7 Spider-Man Copycats Ranked by How Dangerous They Would Be to The Original

Spider-Man is easily one of the most recognizable characters in modern fiction, thanks to with his unique abilities, relatable personality, and stellar costume. With such an iconic hero, many comic companies have tried to duplicate Marvel’s success by making their own characters modeled on the Wall-Crawler. These copycats imitate Spider-Man in various ways, such as becoming a teenage superhero, incorporating an animal/spider theme, possessing a jokester-like personality, or simply wearing a similar costume. Some of these imitators operate as heroes in the vein of Spider-Man, while others act as dark reflections of the Web-Head. Yet, no matter their moral alignment, these copycats possess a diverse array of skills, abilities, and weapons that would make many of them formidable opponents if they were to battle the hero who inspired them.

Plenty of comic companies, from DC to Image Comics, have produced Spider-Man imitators who would be serious threats to the Wall-Crawler.

7) Jack-in-the-Box

At first glance, Image Comics’ hero Jack-in-the-Box from the series Astro City may not seem like a character based on Spider-Man. Still, his nature as a wise-cracking street-level hero clearly pays homage to the Web-Head. Three different men took the Jack-in-the-Box mantle, all for the purpose of protecting their community from criminals. The colorful hero uses clown and gag-based tools to swing through the city and fight crime. He uses extendible mechanical arms to punch people at a distance; colorful streamers to ensnare opponents; and electric buzzers to shock enemies’ unconscious. Jack-in-the-Box’s bizarre arsenal would no doubt catch Spider-Man by surprise.

6) Black Spider

Eric Needham, aka Black Spider, is a deadly anti-villain and assassin in DC Comics whose design –-a purple and dark purple spandex suit with a spider emblem on his forehead– was clearly inspired by Marvel’s Spider-Man. Eric dedicated his life to killing every drug dealer in Gotham, a mission that put him at odds with Batman because of the Dark Knight’s no-kill rule. As a skilled martial artist and marksman who uses wrist-mounted guns to kill his targets –and someone who has frequently matched Batman in combat– Eric could undoubtedly pose a serious threat to Spider-Man. Spider-Man would have to be constantly on the move to avoid Eric’s lethal marksmanship.

5) Leopard

The British comic series The Leopard from Lime Street follows William Farmer, aka the Leopard, who was scratched by a radioactive leopard while at an experimental zoo when he was thirteen years old. Like Spider-Man, the incident gave William superpowers, transforming him into a teenage superhero with a day job as a newspaper photographer. William has all the powers of a leopard, including super strength, agility, claws, and night-vision. He also has a danger sense that alerts him to incoming threats, just like Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense. William is also a skilled fighter, using a grappling hook to swing on buildings. Although William is only thirteen and not as experienced as Spider-Man, his cat-like abilities would make him a serious adversary for the Wall-Crawler to confront.

4) Arachne

In the hit anthology series 2000 AD, one of the stories titled “The Ten-Seconders” centers around a world where superheroes, dubbed “gods,” go rogue and destroy human civilization, leaving behind only a few survivors. One of the most terrifying members of these gods is Arachne, who is a clear corrupted copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man. Arachne is a hulking beast with razor-sharp teeth and claws, and giant spider legs on its back, which it uses to skewer its victims. A cruel monster and a cannibal, Arachne takes great pleasure in butchering his victims. Although Spider-Man would need to watch out for Arachne’s super-fast spider legs, his Spider-Sense would allow him to evade these strikes and exploit Arachne’s inexperience fighting superhumans.

3) Blue Beetle

When DC Comics hired Spider-Man’s co-creator Steve Ditko, they asked him to revamp the Golden Age hero Blue Beetle to be more reminiscent of Marvel’s Wall-Crawler. The result was Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle, who relied on his genius intellect, acrobatic skills, and gadgets to fight crime. Although Ted doesn’t have any powers, his fighting skills and arsenal would make him a serious threat. Even while tied up, Ted has incapacitated more than a dozen thugs. His aircraft, the Bug, has lasers, automatic targeting systems, robot claw arms, and deflector shields. Lastly, Ted’s BB Gun can fire blasts of compressed air strong enough to knock out an elephant. With these skills and powerful arsenal, Ted would certainly be a dangerous enemy if he fought Spider-Man.

2) Haunt

An Image Comics hero, Haunt is like a mystical version of both Spider-Man and Venom. When the preacher Daniel Kilgore merges with his ghost brother Kurt, the two become the hero Haunt, who wields a suit made of pure ectoplasm. Haunt can use the ectoplasm to create webbing-like tendrils, razor-sharp claws, and other weapons. He can shrug off getting hit with an RPG, dodge bullets, decapitate a person with a single swipe of his claws, and kill demons. He can also use his tendrils to the same effect as Doctor Octopus, making him an extremely versatile and dangerous individual who Spider-Man would certainly struggle against if the two ever came into conflict.

1) Sideways

The latest and strongest Spider-Man copycat, Derek James, aka Sideways, is a teenage hero who gained the power to open dimensional portals after being exposed to dark matter when he fell through a portal during the events of Dark Knights Metal. With these portals, Derek can travel across the multiverse, using them as shields to dismember people who haven’t fully passed through his portals. He also possesses superhuman strength and durability. Eric’s deadliest ability is that, if he creates a portal within a preexisting portal, it can turn into a black hole, threatening to destroy everything in its path. Everything about Eric’s abilities would easily make him a serious threat to Spider-Man. If Eric were to generate a well-placed black hole, he could kill the Wall-Crawler instantly.

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