Spider-Man mostly fights common street criminals, with bank robbers, mafia members, and, in some cases, mad scientists. However, while many of his battles are a little more light-hearted than those of other heroes, he does have his fair share of enemies who have a large kill count and have plenty of bodies lying in their wake. These villains include both violent and deadly mafia members and also some serial killers who have no problem killing anyone and everyone who crosses their path. A recent villain called Torment went on a massive killing spree in Spider-Man comics, but he was a one-storyline bad guy who died, so he didn’t do enough to warrant his place in Spider-Man history.
Videos by ComicBook.com
However, the following seven Spider-Man villains have a long history as mass-murdering killing machines.
7) Tombstone
Tombstone debuted in Web of Spider-Man #36 (1988) by Gerry Conway and Alex Saviuk. He is a villain who has the unique distinction of being a direct rival to Daily Bugle editor Robbie Robertson rather than to Spider-Man. This is because Tombstone and Robbie have a long history, with the turning point coming when Robbie saw Tombstone killing an informant and then blackmailing Robbie into silence for decades. In fact, Tombstone’s best stories were with Robbie rather than Spider-Man.
Tombstone was the head enforcer for the crime boss Hammerhead, a pure gangland killer who didn’t care who died at his hands. He was also proud to be a killer, and he showed anger anytime someone took credit for a kill he believed he was entitled to. Over time, Tombstone outgrew his role as a Hammerhead enforcer and became a crime boss in his own right, ordering the death of countless people over the years.
6) Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter’s entire basis is that he is a hunter who wants to kill the biggest and best prizes he can find. After killing at least one of almost every big-game animal on Earth, he sees a new hero known as Spider-Man and decides that he is the ultimate quarry. Kraven debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (1964) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and while his earliest adventure saw him just wanting to hunt down Spider-Man, he eventually joined the Sinister Six and became a more generic villain.
Kraven is Sergei Kravinoff, a Russian whose most important storyline in all of Marvel Comics came in “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” where he finally got his target. While he didn’t kill Spider-Man and only tranquilized him, he proved he was the master hunter before finally taking his own life. When Kraven returned from the dead years later, he began the “Hunted” event, where the clones known as “Sons of Kraven” were made to hunt and kill each other, leaving a massive body count in their path.
5) Morlun
Morlun is one of the most sadistic killers in Spider-Man history, and his entire family, the Inheritors, shares that trait. Morlun made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #30 (2001) by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr., as a vampiric creature who fought Spider-Man in the “Coming Home” storyline. He is an immortal member of the Inheritors, a family of energy vampires who feed on the life force of totems, which are people who bridge animals and humans (Spider-Man, Black Panther, etc.).
His most infamous kill came in “The Other” when Morlun attacked Spider-Man and beat him almost to death, even tearing out the hero’s eye. He was credited as Spider-Man’s killer, although Spider-Man was reborn with more powers. Morlun is also the main villain in “Spider-Verse,” where he and the Inheritors hunt down, devour, and kill countless Spider-Men and Spider-Women across the multiverse. He is deadlier than almost any other Spider-Man villain since he eats Spider-people to survive.
4) The Jackal
Before becoming the Jackal, this Spider-Man villain was Professor Miles Warren at Empire State University, a man who had an unrequited crush on student Gwen Stacy and became obsessed with revenge when he believed Spider-Man was responsible for her death. He debuted as the Jackal in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974) by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru. In this issue, he tricked the Punisher, who was also making his Marvel Comics debut, into believing Spider-Man was a villain so the vigilante would kill him.
The Jackal’s main weapon is his cloning expertise. He was the one who created an army of spider-clones, including a version of Gwen Stacy and another of Peter Parker, who eventually became known as Ben Reilly. This made him responsible for the infamous “Clone Saga” of the 1990s, along with Norman Osborn. Eventually, “Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy” in 2016 to 2017 by Dan Slott and Jim Cheung, saw a version of the Jackal (Ben Reilly) resurrect countless clones, only for them to die all over again. He played God, and it was hard to know who was really dead and who was a clone.
3) Sin-Eater
What makes Sin-Eater such a distinct Spider-Man villain is that the first storyline he appeared in was one that involved the death of one of Spider-Man’s closest allies on the police force. Sin-Eater debuted in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #107 (1985) by Peter David and Rich Buckler, and the storyline was “The Death of Jean DeWolff.” Captain DeWolff was found dead, and Spider-Man looked for her killer, only to find it was her ex-romantic interest, Stan Carter.
Carter was a former SHIELD agent turned NYPD detective who was psychologically damaged. He believed that by killing victims, he was absolving them of their sins. DeWolff was one of several people he killed, including a judge and a priest who supported prison reform. He also almost killed Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and Betty Brant. Sin-Eater returned years later and began to target specific villains to cleanse them of their sins. He hasn’t killed as many people as other Spider-Man villains, but he was one of the original body-count killers.
2) Carnage
Carnage is the one Spider-Man villain whose entire character is that he is a sociopathic serial killer. This is because Carnage is Venom’s spawn, but the first person Carnage bonded with after his birth was Cletus Kasady, a serial killer serving 11 consecutive life sentences. Kasady had already killed countless people before this, and when Carnage bonded with him, he developed an almost insatiable thirst for murder. This was dangerous since Carnage was faster, stronger, and more lethal than Venom.
The biggest Carnage storyline in Marvel Comics was “Maximum Carnage,” a 1993 crossover with 14 issues where he assembled a gang of killers and then started killing people all over New York City. In the more recent “Death Spiral” storyline, it was Carnage who convinced Torment to start killing members of Peter Parker’s, Mary Jane Watson’s, and Eddie Brock’s families while bonded to Eddie himself. Carnage also just killed someone while bonded with Spider-Woman, proving he will kill no matter how heroic his host.
1) Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is one of Spider-Man’s earliest villains, debuting in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (1964) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. It wasn’t revealed until The Amazing Spider-Man #39 (1966) that this was Norman Osborn, the dad of one of Peter Parker’s best friends. The Green Goblin showed he was a cold-blooded killer when he threw Gwen Stacy from a bridge, and she died when Spider-Man caught her with his webbing and her neck snapped. “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” was when Marvel ended its Silver Age of storytelling.
The Green Goblin became even fiercer when he returned from his first death. He proved that he had actually come up with the idea for the “Clone Saga,” working behind the scenes without even the Jackal knowing. Years after that, he took over SHIELD following “Secret Invasion” and put together the Dark Avengers, showing he was a deadly threat to the entire Marvel Universe and not just to Spider-Man. While Norman is a good guy now, the years he spent as a villain left a large kill count.
More Comics
-
Image Courtesy of DC Comics -
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics -
Image Courtesy of DC Comics -
Image Courtesy of Image Comics
