13 greatest Spider-Man villains ranked from worst to best

1. Green Goblin

Many of the villains featured on this list want to end Spider-Man and Spider-Man alone. After all, the wall-crawler has stopped their mischievous plans on more than one occasion, making him a clear (and reasonable) target. But things are a little more complicated when we talk about the Green Goblin. He not only wants to defeat our friendly-neighborhood hero, but he also wants to make the man behind the mask suffer as much as he can.

This rivalry is more than personal for Norman Osborn, and he’ll go to extreme lengths to be a nuisance in Peter Parker’s life. You could even argue that The Green Goblin is the one who has hurt Peter the most of any other villain in existence, and that is terrifying.

When talking about Norman, we have to bring up The Night that Gwen Stacy died. This iconic storyline marked the greatest loss for the wall-crawler right after Uncle Ben’s death, and it was devastating to see it unfold. There are no limits to what the Green Goblin will do to hurt Peter, and this story perfectly captures that idea.

Gwen Stacy’s death became such an iconic moment that it was even translated to the big screen in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That sequence was the best part of the movie, without a doubt, even if it proved to be heartbreaking for audiences worldwide. Furthermore, while speaking about films, let’s highlight the fact that the Green Goblin has been a main villain in four Spider-Man live-action projects and has been interpreted by three different actors. This just goes to show how popular the villain is and how closely he’s associated with the wall crawler.

Another iconic Spider-Man moment came when the Ultimate version of the character died fighting the Green Goblin. Peter’s death was something unexpected and incredibly sad for many readers. However, it also allowed for the character of Miles Morales to be created, and now he’s so beloved by fans that we can’t imagine what would’ve happened if Peter never died in that world.

Without Norman Osborn, many incredible Spider-Man stories would’ve never come to be. He’s truly the greatest menace for Peter Parker, and it’s always nerve-wracking to see the two of them face each other. However, we can’t deny that whenever that happens, we know we’re in for an exhilarating time.

First appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #4 (1964)

Notable appearances:

• The Night that Gwen Stacy Died (1973)
• Ultimate Spider-Man #160 (2011)
• Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)