The 5 Weirdest Spider-Man Villains

Spider-Man is Marvel’s most popular character. While many heroes have tried to come for the Web-Slinger’s crown, none of them have ever been able to knock him from this lofty perch. There are numerous reasons for that; Peter Parker is a compelling character with an amazing supporting cast, cool powers, and one of the best costumes in all of comics. His stories combine humor and high-stakes action beautifully , and the best of them can stand tall next to the greatest superhero stories of all time. Just as important as all that, though, is his rogues gallery. Spider-Man villains are amazing, and many of them have become very popular.

The Wall-Crawler has villains of all kinds. Some Spider-Man villains are strong, some are cunning, and some are completely insane. He has a villain that can work with every story. However, one thing we forget is that Spider-Man also has some of the weirdest villains out there. These five Spider-Man villains are the weirdest of the bunch, and have gained a certain notoriety from fans because of their strangeness.

5) The Spot

The Spot is one of those villains that is a weird idea that just works. Like many Spider-Man villains, he was a scientist who figured out a way to do something amazing, and then decided to use that to become a villain. Villains that can open portals aren’t all that weird, but there’s something about the Spot and the way his powers work. It’s so cool to see someone try to punch him and their fist suddenly hits themselves. His simple yet effective costume is cool, but still has that bit of weirdness to it that makes it memorable. The Spot has become more popular than ever, one of many characters introduced in the Spider-Verse movies, and his unique powers and visual presentation make him a fun, yet undeniably strange, villain.

4) Vermin

Vermin was originally a Captain America villain, created from the experiments of Arnim Zola, but eventually made the jump over to Spider-Man comics. Zola mixed rat and human DNA, transforming Edward Whelan into a monster. Rodents are often associated with villainy, and are quite common in the animal world, but there are few rodent themed villains, which is part of what makes Vermin weird. However, the real icing on the weird cake is the character’s psychology. Edward can be a ruthless killer, but he can also be a poor lonely child, who wants love and family. These swings are a major part of what makes him so weird. One moment, he’s tearing someone’s throat out and the next he’s talking like a lonely six year old. This is part of what makes him such a great weird villain; there are layers to the character that creators can mine for stories.

3) Hypno-Hustler

’70s Marvel can be pretty cringe, and a perfect example of that is the villain known as the Hypno-Hustler. He looks like a long lost member of Parliament/Funkadelic who has decided to turn to a life of crime, using his musical skills to hypnotize the people around him. That’s all there is to the villain, and that’s what makes him so weird. Someone at Marvel really thought that making Bootsie Collins into a supervillain was a great idea. The character still has same basic MO as he did all those years ago, the only thing that has changed is the music. He’s just a hilarious villain in general, a perfect storm of weird in one villain.

2) Rocket Racer

Rocket Racer has evolved over the years, but he’s basically everyone’s stoner skater friend who wants to put rockets on their skates, be they skateboards or otherwise. At first, when the roller skating fad started to hit the nation, he had roller skates and since then, his main accoutrements has been skateboards. Honestly, the whole idea of Rocket Racer is weird. Sure, his rocket powered wheeled devices are fast, but there’s more to being a supervillain than just being able to escape. It’s funny to think of the thought process behind the villain, because someone thought this was a good villain idea — a character on rocket-powered skates zooming around the streets of New York City. One would expect that it would be easier for him to get run over by a truck than become a successful villain.

1) Boomerang

Boomerang was an Australian baseball player (he moved to the States to play baseball) who decided that he should he become a villain who threw boomerangs to commit crime when his big league dreams failed. That was the extent of the thought-process behind the villain. At some level, every villain who uses a boomerang is a little weird, but Boomerang’s origin as a baseball-loving Australian is the one that puts this over the top. The odds of that happening are pretty low, and give the villain that little bit of extra strange that makes him into an all-time weird great.

What’s your favorite weird Spider-Man villain? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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