Sony doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to adapting Marvel characters. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy comes out of the gates swinging, but it’s obvious at what point the studio comes in and demands bigger villains. Spider-Man 3‘s Venom is a far cry from the terrifying evildoer in the comic books, and New Goblin is a poor attempt at taking creative liberties with a legacy character. Once Raimi departs, things only get worse, with The Amazing Spider-Man duology and the Venom solo films not doing themselves any favors by bringing in generic bad guys who can’t hold a candle to the likes of Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin.
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That’s only the tip of the iceberg, though, because Sony’s more recent releases take things to another level. Morbius‘ Milo makes a name for himself by doing a ridiculous dance, while Madame Web‘s Ezekiel Sims can’t seem to understand the words that are coming out of his own mouth. However, both of those villains will have to get in line, as there’s another character that outdoes them in every way, and they just so happen to be Spider-Man’s original enemy.
Sony Doesn’t Do Right By Spider-Man’s First Villain
After debuting in Amazing Fantasy, Peter Parker gets his own solo title, The Amazing Spider-Man. Of course, a hero is only as good as his villain, so Stan Lee and Steve Ditko don’t waste any time by having their new character fight the Chameleon, aka Dmitri Smerdyakov, who can change his appearance to look like anyone. Later issues reveal that Chameleon is actually the half-brother of Sergei Kravinoff, aka Kraven the Hunter. The siblings go up against Spider-Man on numerous occasions, becoming fixtures of his rogues’ gallery. Their connection is so strong that the two villains appear in a movie together that doesn’t feature the Wall-Crawler.
Like Venom and Morbius before it, Kraven the Hunter pushes the idea that its titular character can be more of an anti-hero than a villain. All Kraven wants to do is bring criminals to justice, but his father complicates matters by involving himself in illegal activity. Kraven teams up with his brother, Dimitri, and the two take down dear old dad. But Dimitri doesn’t stay on the righteous path after gaining his shape-shifting abilities. No, he gets on stage at a club and starts singing before revealing to his brother that things are different now in a mind-boggling sequence. Since it takes place right at the end of the movie, it leaves a bad taste in the audience’s mouth, one that the Marvel Cinematic Universe can’t get rid of.
Chameleon Has Already Been Wasted in the MCU
Any character Sony screws up has a lifeline in the form of the MCU. Spider-Man doesn’t appear in the studio’s movies anymore because Marvel Studios has its hands on him, making him one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. While a lackluster Sony villain like Kraven or Carnage has yet to make the jump to the MCU, it only feels like a matter of time before it happens. Chameleon is unlikely to find himself in that situation, though, because he’s technically already part of the MCU, having a small role in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Dimitri is one of the agents that Talos, posing as Nick Fury, sends to look after Peter while he’s in Europe. The movie never mentions Dimitri having superpowers or even a codename, but the implication is there. While it’s possible that Dimitri returns down the line and breaks bad, Far From Home doesn’t even try to flesh out his character, meaning the powers that be at Marvel Studios must not think much of him. It’s a shame that Spider-Man’s first villain isn’t getting the respect he deserves, but he’s been fighting an uphill battle for years because of the competition he’s dealing with.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
