Dynastic Centerpiece Revisted - The Other Side

After all, what's a hero without a villain? And Spider-Man has one of the best collections of enemies around (I'd say only the Flash and Batman can compare, especially when it comes to variety). I'm thinking this is a sort of what I'd like to see, and this wouldn't be all the enemies he'd be dealing with, just his most frequent combatants. Oh well, at least it's a distraction from the Broncos being destroyed.

Arch Enemy - Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin. Blame the writers, who've decided Osborn is responsible for practically everything that's gone wrong in Peter's life since he put on the mask. Norman killed Gwen, his intensity drove his son, Harry, to drugs and later to trying to kill Peter as the new Green Goblin. He was behind the whole clone saga, and Aunt May's apparent death (twice!). Knows Peter better than any other villain, and because he dons the weird outfits as well, may understand Peter even better than Aunt May or Mary Jane. As such, has the ability to get under Peter's skin, emotionally wound him in ways that could drive Peter to the brink, and it's kind of fun watching Norman try. Plus with his resources, can strike at as Norman Osborn, leaving Peter without much recourse. In essence, osborn could be Arch-Enemy, Civilian Foe,and Untouchable Crime Lord, were the writers inclined to go that way. Plus, he's batshit crazy (whatever that means), so he could probably fit in the next category.

Lunatic - But it's not all about Norman Osborn, no matter how hard thw writers may try to convince us. So, Vermin. Crazy, lives in the sewers, can control rats, seems to be able to bring out fear and paranoia in others, oh yeah, he eats people! And somewhere inside is an innocent man who got mutated by Baron Zemo. Actually, Edward was back to normal for awhile, but that never lasts. Or, the Lizard, bonus points for Curt Connors being Peter's friend.

Heroworshipping Villain - Cardiac. Ok he straddles the line between hero and villain, but he has no problem with killing people he feels harm others for their own benefit. I can't remember too much backstory, but his brother was sick, and a company decided it wasn't yet cost-effective to provide the cure, so his brother died. So Elias focuses on things such as that.
And this is a guy willing to replace his heart with a beta-particle reactor, so that he channel energy through his staff, and you know, blast people. He kills, but like the Punisher can be fairly precise. It's the suits he takes out; security guards may get stunned, but they live. He admitted to looking up to Spider-Man, that Spidey was the example who convinced him to go this path.

Civilian Enemy - J. Jonah Jameson. He's not actually evil, just a man with questions, doubts, and fears about a man who swings on a web, fighting freaks with four metal tentacles. How unreasonable. Still, I actually thought about putting him in the next category as Spider-Man once joked Jonah's spent millions funding the creation of villains to destroy Spider-Man. Spencer Smythe's Spider-Slayers, the Scorpion, the Human Fly. Throw in that he's Peter's fairly stingy employer, and his ability to make Peter's entire life difficult increases. But he's most effective with his headlines, making people question Spidey's motives. And as JJJ once pointed out, it'd be a lot easier to trust Peter if he stopped hiding behind a mask. Of course it would open a whole host of new problems for the webslinger, but that's not Jameson's problem. .

Untouchable Crime Lord - See how Jameson would have fit? Peter can't just punch him out, although he does enjoy webbing Jonah's mouth shut. So the best option would obviously be Kingpin, and even though he started in Amazing Spider-Man, he's a Daredevil foe now, kind of like how Wendigo was in Incredible Hulk, but now he only seems to fight Wolverine. Anyway, I'm going to diverge and suggest two possibilities: Alistar Smythe and Arcade. Each one has vast technical know-how. This would give them an edge over standard gangs, enabling them to beat those guys, and then incorporate them. Smythe could try passing himself off as a scientist (which would be a switch from the standard crime lord, that is always a businessman). As for Arcade, well his family was loaded, so I'm sure there are some old connections from before Arcade killed his father that he could exploit to protect himself. Plus I always just though Arcade was kind of cool, and a guy that smart wouldn't have to keep luring people to his place. He could figure out how to send his traps out after the targets, while staying safely hidden away. I thought about Chameleon, but it's been done before, and I think his brain is pretty fried. I think the last time I saw him, he was professing love for Spidey. I mean love love. Whoa.

Magician - Mysterio, well he's an illusionist at least, as well as a damn poor dresser. At least he doesn't have a bare midriff. OK, moving on, well he's kind of nuts, and he's just something a little different, for when the writer wants to take a lot of drugs, and then write the issue. Call up the colorist: "More colors man! More vivid! Bring me Hostess Fruit Pies! I need to stop that alien! (if you remember the ads from comics in the 80s or earlier, you know what I mean)" Awesome. Down side, he might be dead. But wait! It was all an illusion! Hooray! Anyway, we need more villains in giant fishbowls. it's just so goofy, and yet Mysterio is so determined to be taken seriously, he could be quite dangerous.

Evil Opposite - Venom. sigh. Well, it was either him, the Spider-Doppelganger (stupid Infinity War), or Carnage (one go-round with him was enough), unless I shift Kaine back to being a villain instead of a Black Sheep. Hmm. Anyway, Venom would be used VERY sparingly. We're talking once every 50 issues, tops. We are not going back to the days when he showed up for 3 issues out of every 15 in Amazing Spider-Man. I think he could be somewhat like the Lizard in that Eddie Brock is going to try to go back to a normal life, but he can't get rid of the symbiote (obviously we're not doing the "Eddie dies of cancer and sells the symbiote" story Jenkins started and Millar finished). Sometimes he might help Peter, sometimes not. Most of the time I think he would falter, and Peter might have to help him back on the path. It'd be more talking, less punching, which is something Paul jenkins does pretty well.

Femme Fatale - This is hard. I'm kind of defining this as "villain the hero has trouble fighting, because he wants to get with her." So I guess, if I change Romantic Interest to Mary Jane, I could move Felicia Hardy back into a sort of grey area. There was one story with Typhoid Mary, nah, let's leave her to Daredevil. Other than that, the female Doc Ock? No. Shriek? Hell no! Titania? Uhh, a bit large. Silver Sable, as a less friendly mercenary? Maybe. Sable always used to take the contracts to support the economy of her home country. That's got to be expensive, so it would figure she couldn't always be choosy and might have to go after Spider-Man. Or maybe she's after Felicia, and Peter gets in the middle.

Mental Challenger - Doctor Octopus. Had to fit him in somewhere. Smart, has tentacles that are fast and strong, and can be upgraded. Seems to have a personality disorder, where sometimes he wants to make big money through theft or development of something destructive. Other times he just wants to kill lots of people. Still other times he just wants to kill Spidey. Maybe he should have a personality disorder, then each time Peter has to figure which side he's dealing with. Each one could approach fighting Spider-Man differently, if they even cared to. Plus, the dude tried to marry Aunt May, resulting in the hilarious moment of her trying to shoot her nephew, only she doesn'y know it because he's dressed in his spider-costume. Well, hilarious for the reader maybe. Kind of sad for Aunt May. Her romances never work out. I guess Jarvis will turn out to be a Skrull, or Lord of the Zombies or something.

Physical Challenger - Morlun. Damn, he was perfect the first time. It makes sense from a biological standpoint in that he's designed to hunt a specific kind of prey, and Spider-Man's it. He's strong, surprisingly fast, and can take everything Peter throws at him. However, I think he's best if used sparingly, like maybe Peter has to enlist the aid of other totems to truly finish him off (remember, I'm doing this as if it's well before 'The Other', so that isn't going to occur). So on a more regular basis, the Scorpion. Faster and stronger than Spider-Man, but much, much dumber, so clearly a physical challenge. The Lizard and the Rhino could probably land here too.