13 greatest Spider-Man villains ranked from worst to best

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Kraven the Hunter /

5. Kraven

(This page contains spoilers for Kraven’s Last Hunt. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend doing so without knowing anything about it. You won’t regret it!)

What’s the greatest Spider-Man story ever? If you had to pick just one, which would it be? For many, The Night Gwen Stacy Died could be the answer, as it had an iconic story filled with tragedy and loss for Peter Parker. For others, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 has a story that perfectly represents Peter’s bad luck and how his personal life suffers whenever he has to wear the mask. However, there’s a comic book storyline that may be the answer for a lot of Spider-Man fans out there, and that’s Kraven’s Last Hunt.

You’d think that one of the best Spider-Man stories ever would feature the wall-crawler on almost every page of its run, but that wasn’t the case for Kraven’s Last Hunt. In it, Peter was “killed” at the very beginning by Kraven, and it was the villainous hunter who took the spotlight instead. Throughout every issue, we got to know Alexei Kravinoff better, giving us a chance to understand why he’s such an incredible character. He just wants to prove he’s a man of honor and the best hunter that ever was. That goal was finally achieved when he buried Spider-Man, took his place, and defeated an enemy that Spidey was incapable of defeating on his own.

Eventually, it was revealed that Peter wasn’t killed but drugged to a point near death. Kraven wanted the wall-crawler to come out of the tomb just to see he was bested. Instead of ending Spider-Man once and for all, Kraven wished for the hero to live every day of his life knowing defeat. In that moment of victory, Kraven finally felt happiness (if ever so slightly) and decided to quit the game while being on top. After all, he won, and there was nothing else to prove. Kraven took his life with a shotgun, and even after that, Spidey continued to be tormented by what the supervillain did to him.

Kraven’s Last Hunt perfectly encapsulates all of Kraven’s greatest qualities. He’s determined, he’s a man of honor, and he’s out to search for a formidable equal just to surpass him. That cannot be said for many supervillains, making Kraven a definite standout. His status as one of Spider-Man’s greatest adversaries has granted him a live-action movie, a protagonistic role in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and many appearances in cartoons and comics. He’s, without a doubt, worthy of being in the top 5 of the wall crawler’s villains.

First appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #15 (1964)

Notable appearances:

Kraven’s Last Hunt (1987)
Hunted (February to June 2019)
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions videogame (2010)

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