Spider-Man is one of the most historic and storied franchises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it’s still got so much more on the horizon. While the more recent live-action films have dazzled audiences and brought new generations of fans into the web, perhaps just as important are the numerous animated series that have swung into action over the years. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is the star, but just as important are the villains he snares in his web. Live-action films have budget and time constraints to worry about, animated series are freer to develop complex story lines and character arcs — key to presenting the franchise’s many villains. Viewers need to know why these baddies are the way they are and animated series afford that treatment.
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Focusing on two of the key animated series — Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994-1998) and The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-2009) — here are seven Spider-Man villains who are more compelling and memorable thanks to their animated appearances.
7) Shocker/Herman Schultz
Shocker receives a blue-collar background in The Spectacular Spider-Man. Given the socio-economic climate of 2008 and 2009, certainly an apt adaptation. Even more timely, Herman Schultz turns to a life of crime and treats villainy like a job, operating with vibration-based weapons — hence the name Shocker.
Shocker/Herman Schultz’s recurring role offered enhanced character development. Improved costume design and power visualization also worked to transform Shocker from an obscure villain to a fan favorite in The Spectacular Spider-Man. Jeff Bennett’s choice of giving Shocker a Queens accent when delivering memorable one-liners added to the working-class nature of the character.
6) The Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors
The Lizard’s origin story is a tragedy in scales. Looking for a way to regrow a lost arm, Dr. Curt Connors experiments with lizard DNA, only to become more reptilian than man.
While the comic versions focus more on the monster, both Spider-Man: The Animated Series and The Spectacular Spider-Man rightly gave weight to the man. The examination of Connors provided a clearer internal struggle within The Lizard, enhanced by the animation. The animated series also focuses more on the star of the show, Peter Parker, and his relationship with Connors as a mentor figure, while also playing up the role of his son Billy, humanizing him further. Moreover, Joseph Campanella and Dee Bradley Baker brought a fatherly warmth to Dr. Connors.
5) Black Cat/Felicia Hardy
Historically, Black Cat has been a tricky character for writers to grasp. A cat burglar, she is naturally at odds with Spider-Man, but is also something of a love interest for Spider-Man/Peter Parker and also an ally.
Jennifer Hale voices Black Cat in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and brings an air of sophistication to the character who also sees more agency and depth. The ’90s series was also able to make the relationship between Black Cat/Felicia and Spider-Man/Peter more natural and less forced. As an almost anti-hero figure, Black Cat in The Animated Series was additionally able to play up the dichotomy of ally and adversary.
4) Kingpin/Wilson Fisk
While originally a character in the Spider-Man comics, Kingpin interestingly became more of a foil to Daredevil. Spider-Man: The Animated Series changed that when it brought the primarily Daredevil villain Kingpin back into the Spiderverse and made him a worthy arch-nemesis for the web-slinger.
Roscoe Lee Browne’s memorable voice performance helped to land Kingpin/Wilson Fisk’s characterization as an uber-intelligent, strategic criminal mastermind who uses the system to his advantage but isn’t afraid to employ carefully applied violence.
3) Tombstone/Lonnie Lincoln
Another crime boss character, Tombstone cuts an intimidating figure with his pasty white skin and filed teeth. But The Spectacular Spider-Man transformed the big bruiser into the sophisticated puppet master known as “The Big Man.”
Pulling the strings of a criminal empire as well as a number of other Spider-Man villains, Spectacular Spider-Man made Tombstone the central baddie. The series also delved deeper into his relationship with Daily Bugle editor Robbie Robertson, which, in turn, added depth and complexity to the relationship with Peter Parker. Keith David’s voice work brought a quiet menace to the character that made him even more terrifying.
2) Sandman/Flint Marko
While Sandman’s tragic condition is explored in the live-action Spider-Man 3 film, The Spectacular Spider-Man takes a deeper dive into the shifting sands of Flint Marko’s character.
Both the movie and Spectacular Spider-Man play up the illness of Marko’s daughter as a motive. The animated series, however, delves deeper into Sandman’s sympathetic backstory, the complexity of his motivations, and his reluctant role as a villain who could be redeemed. The Spectacular Spider-Man animation team also did a great job showing Sandman’s conflicted nature in his granular features.
1) Venom/Eddie Brock
As the anti-Peter Parker, Venom is one of the most important villains in the Spiderverse. The Spectacular Spider-Man, which came before Venom got his own movies and star treatment, plays up Venom’s yin to Spider-Man’s yang by making Eddie and Peter friends and colleagues, which makes the central theme of Eddie Brock blaming Peter for his failure at the Daily Bugle all the more personal. The vendetta is heightened when the symbiote corrupts Eddie and he discovers Peter is Spider-Man. Of course, Eddie would get scooped by Peter at the Daily Bugle. Benjamin Diskin’s voicing of Eddie highlighted the personal nature of the beef, capturing the character’s initial warmth and later the venomous hatred.
The animated series just gives so much more depth to the Spider-Man villains, something that is important in understanding why they do the things they do. What makes these characters tick as well as their various powers is often better expressed through animation and enhanced by excellent voice casting. Baddies gonna bad, but why they do it is so much more interesting.
What are some of your favorite villains in the animated series? Let us know in the comments below!
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