It was a great weekend for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Not only has the movie been praised by critics, but it broke the record for biggest opening weekend for an animated movie in December with $35.4 million. Coupled with good word of mouth, Into the Spider-Verse likely has a couple of nice weeks ahead of it at the box office and you know what that means: Sequel!
Sony is already talking about plans for Into the Spider-Verse 2, and while the conversation will likely be on all the different Spider-People from across the multiverse that could be in it, let's not forget about the villains. Spider-Man has one of the best rogues galleries in the business. With a net as wide as Into the Verse, there are a lot of different possibilities that we'd love to see play out in Into the Spider-Verse 2. Take a look.
Kraven The Hunter
One of the most classic villains in Spider-Man's history is Kraven the Hunter. Possessed with superhuman strength and reflexes, Kraven's whole deal is that he is obsessed with hunting Spider-Man and proving that he is superior to his ultimate prey. Kraven has been a character some people have hoped would show up in a Spider-Man movie for a long time by fans, and animation might provide him with the perfect opportunity. Into the Spider-Verse introduces the concept that a version of Spider-Man exists in countless realities. What better challenge is there for the self-proclaimed greatest hunter in the world than to hunt Spider-People from across the multiverse? Who doesn't want a Spider-Ham trophy mounted to their wall? That would certainly give Miles, Gwen, and the gang reason enough to team up again.
Hobgoblin
Into the Spider-Verse already introduced a version of the Green Goblin. Granted, he was a big dragon man, but we've already seen Goblin in two or three other Spider-Man movies. It's time to let a new Goblin shine and his name is Hobgoblin. He's an orange reskin of Green Goblin all the way down to his pumpkin bombs and glider, but he's a different character with different motivations. A few people have gone by the name, but greed is usually the driving force behind Hobgoblin. The character could work as a goon/secondary villain much like Scorpion or Tombstone were in Into the Spider-Verse. I think it'd be cool if Hobgoblin were Miles' personal Green Goblin. Hobgoblin has never been in a movie before, and so any angle that Spider-Verse 2 wanted to take would be fresh.
Electro
Electro is another classic Spidey bad guy. When it comes to villains who fill the role as a powerful henchman, you can't find one who is much better than Electro. The character has never really been bright enough to call the shots, but he's really good at zapping Spider-Man. His electric powers always make him a formidable challenge, so he's a great physical obstacle to overcome. Electro already made his movie debut in Amazing Spider-Man 2, but Into the Spider-Verse proved that it could come up with creative twists on classic characters, both in their design and identity. With a multiverse of options, there are a lot of different ways to present a fresh take on Electro.
Rhino
Speaking of Spider-Man baddies who are mostly just good for taking orders, Rhino would be another fit. While the character is certainly a great adversary and one of Spidey's most physically powerful foes, Rhino isn't the type of villain to blow up the city. He's more into robbing banks or getting hired to kill Spider-Man. Thus, he makes a perfect henchman to support the primary antagonist. Plus, there are a few different variations for Spider-Verse 2 to play with. While he is traditionally a man trapped in a Rhino-themed costume, the character has also been a giant robot with a pilot inside.
Alistair Smythe
Alistair Smyth is one of the lesser-known Spider-Man villains. He's a brilliant scientist who has been confined to a wheelchair. His father was commissioned by J. Jonah Jameson to construct a series of robots known as Spider-Slayers to defeat Spider-Man. This ultimately killed him, and Smythe inherited his father's mission, blaming Spider-Man for everything. Smythe eventually mutated himself so that he could walk again and fight Spidey, turning himself into a living Spider-Slayer. I could see Spider-Verse 2 using Smyte as a villain smart enough to build a portal between dimensions, and his use of robots would be a change of pace from the previous film. Again, he's not a famous villain, but that just leaves more room for Spider-Verse 2 to really put its own stamp on Smythe.
Venom
Venom has had a pretty fantastic year thanks to the release of his solo film, which went on to make a boatload of money. With Sony's love for Venom rewarded, it doesn't seem crazy to think that the studio might find a place for him in Spider-Verse 2. For every different version of Spider-Man out there, there's usually a Venom not too far behind. Thanks to the symbiote, anyone can technically be Venom, much like how anyone can be Spider-Man. It wouldn't have to be Eddie Brock under the mask (or goop). There's a lot of different things you can do with the character, and Into the Spider-Verse proved how imaginative that it can get. If Sony really wanted to crank it up a notch, they could even just go for broke and make it Tom Hardy's Venom, or at least hide a clever easter egg to the surprise hit.
Morlun
Barely anyone outside of the comic book community knows who Morlun is, but this guy is one of Spider-Man's deadliest foes. Seriously. They have fought one-on-one three times now, and each time, Spider-Man was brought to the brink of death. He actually did die one of those times, but it's a long, convoluted story. Morlun is something of a vampire who feeds exclusively on the souls of Spider-People. He and his family travel from dimension to dimension killing Spiders to fuel their insatiable hunger. Morlun is incredibly strong with an incredibly bad taste in clothing. (He looks like Tom Cruise in My Interview With a Vampire). Morlun and his family were the main protagonists of "Spider-Verse," the comic book storyline that lightly serves as inspiration for Into the Spider-Verse, so I think it's only a matter of time before he shows his animated face.
Superior Spider-Man
While not technically a villain, Superior Spider-Man certainly started out that way. In one final gambit for victory, a dying Doctor Octopus swapped bodies with Peter Parker and successfully took over his life. Rather than take his new hot bod to a tropical paradise, Ock got a sense of the responsibility and burden Peter carries and decided to be a "better" Spider-Man than Peter could hope to be. He had some good ideas, but his arrogance and cold-blooded nature back-fired on him and he willingly gave Peter his body back. However, the change was pretty popular and Marvel found a way to get Ock back as Superior Spider-Man. There could be a version of SpOck (as fans call him) out there in the multiverse, who teams up/fights with Miles and the gang in the sequel. Maybe he's genuinely trying to do good, or maybe he's actually evil. The idea that anyone can be Spider-Man is the driving force of Into the Spider-Verse and Superior Spider-Man fits that theme almost too perfectly.
You can catch Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse in theaters now.
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