Marvel’s Dark Web event featured two cloned villains as they teamed up to take on Spider-Man and the X-Men. Chasm is the former Spider-Man, Ben Reilly. He transformed into his villainous form during a battle with Peter Parker. Even though it wasn’t his fault, Parker felt partially responsible for Ben Reilly’s transformation into a villain.
Chasm isn’t the only scary Marvel villain that Spider-Man had a hand in creating over the years. Sometimes a wealthy benefactor like JJJ manipulated others into becoming villains like Scorpion. Other characters like Tendril gained their abilities from Peter Parker’s radioactive blood. Spider-Man played a role in some way that led them down a dark path to villainy.
Updated on December 18th, 2022 by Scoot Allan: The most recent trailer forSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseteased the new villain of the highly-anticipated animated sequel. The Spot may not be the most well-known supervillain, though he shares a long history with Spider-Man. He joins the ranks of a few other Spider-Man villains who were created either directly or indirectly by the wall-crawler himself.
13/13 JJ Jameson Turned Scorpion And The Fly Into Monsters
While Spider-Man wasn’t directly involved in their creation, Mac Gargan and Richard Deacon became monsters because of him. J. Jonah Jameson hired scientists like Farley and Harlan Stillwell to help him stop Spider-Man. Farley Stillwell created a process that blended animal genetics with humans. Gargan was the first test subject, and he became the monstrous Scorpion.
Scorpion’s incredible strength and abilities more than made him a match for Spider-Man. However, he eventually regretted his transformation. Richard Deacon was already a criminal when he forced Harlan Stillwell to use the same process on him. As the Human Fly, he began to mutate into a monstrous cannibal who threatened heroes like Agent Venom as well.
12/13 Spider-Man’s Rejection Of The Symbiote Created Venom
Peter Parker first donned the alien symbiote on Battleworld during the Secret Wars storyline. His powerful new black suit gave him enhanced abilities. However, he discovered that it was an alien symbiote who wanted to permanently bond with him. Spider-Man rejected the symbiote and forcibly removed it from his body using a church bell as a sonic weapon.
The symbiote survived and escaped to find Eddie Brock in that same church. Brock hated Spider-Man and blamed him for his ruined career as a journalist. His hatred bonded them together as the powerful symbiotic villain Venom. He became one of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains, though Venom eventually found a new path as a heroic Lethal Protector.
11/13 The Jackal Targeted Spider-Man After Gwen Stacy’s Death
Dr. Miles Warren taught both Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy at Empire State University. He developed inappropriate feelings for his young student Gwen Stacy, who later died in a battle between Spider-Man and Green Goblin. Warren’s mind shattered and he developed a dark alter known as The Jackal to get his revenge on Spider-Man.
Jackal perfected his cloning process to create a new Gwen Stacy. However, he also created clones like Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker to mentally torment Peter Parker. The Jackal even transformed himself into a monstrous animal/human hybrid to better compete with the more powerful Spider-Man.
10/13 Alistair Smythe Became The Ultimate Spider-Slayer
JJJ enlisted the help of more than one scientist in his early quest to rid the world of Spider-Man. He began working closely with Spencer Smythe, who created deadly robots called Spider-Slayers. However, Smythe’s experiments poisoned the doctor and led to his death. His only son Alistair took over for his father and began creating Spider-Slayers to get revenge on Spider-Man.
However, even Marvel’s most powerful robots struggled to hold their own against Spider-Man. The younger Smythe lost the use of his legs in battle while piloting a slayer. Alistair decided to turn himself into the Ultimate Spider-Slayer using genetic modification. He covered his body in an evolving bio-organic armor that gave him enhanced abilities but turned him into a terrifying monster.
9/13 Hobgoblin Sought Extra Power And Bonded With Demogoblin
Spider-Man faced a few different versions of Hobgoblin over the years. Jason Macendale was a mercenary who debuted as Jack-O-Lantern well before he encountered Spider-Man. His turn into villainy and takeover of the Hobgoblin identity wasn’t Spider-Man’s fault. However, Hobgoblin’s continued defeats by Green Goblin and Spider-Man led him to take drastic measures.
Demonic beings infested New York City during the first Inferno event. Macendale took advantage of the situation and made a deal with a devil for more power. A demonic spirit possessed Macendale and he became the terrifying Demogoblin. They eventually split and Demogoblin continued on his own extremist religious mission to kill all sinners.
8/13 Damon Ryder Became Raptor To Get Revenge On Spider-Man
Spider-Man’s clone Ben Reilly spent years on the road in exile after his first confrontation with Peter Parker. He took on odd jobs in labs over the years to take advantage of his scientific expertise. He briefly worked for a scientist named Damon Ryder, who was experimenting with dinosaur DNA. Ryder injected himself with a serum that had physical effects on his body.
Reilly tried to help him, but an attack from his enemy Kaine resulted in a lab fire that took the lives of Ryder’s family. Ryder spent years enhancing his body with dinosaur DNA to become Raptor. He hunted down Peter Parker because he assumed Reilly had just changed his name. Raptor tried to kill Parker’s family as revenge before Spider-Man defeated him.
7/13 Charles Wiederman Used Parker To Become The Molten Man
Peter Parker was heavily bullied in high school, though he wasn’t the only one. Bullies picked on Charles Wiederman even more than Peter Parker, which initially bonded them together. However, Wiederman’s vengeful personality led to the fall of their friendship. As an adult, he manipulated their strained friendship to get funding from Tony Stark for a new project.
Wiederman created an experimental skinsuit using vibranium, though he cut corners. Parker tried to warn him, but Wiederman’s project exploded. He became the new Molten Man after the vibranium encased him in a skinsuit. He blamed Parker and turned on his old “friend.” Wiederman burned down Parker’s home before Spider-Man hardened his vibranium skinsuit to trap him.
6/13 Ultimate Carnage Was Created Using Peter Parker’s Blood
Marvel’s Ultimate universe featured popular heroes like Spider-Man and the X-Men reimagined in a modern world free from decades of continuity. This allowed for new takes on old characters from exciting creators. The Ultimate Venom symbiote was an experimental suit created by Peter Parker’s father that took a dark turn after Spider-Man wore it as his costume.
Dr. Curt Conners asked Peter Parker if he could use his irradiated blood in one of his experiments. He blended Parker’s DNA with his father’s experimental suit and Carnage was born. It escaped and brutally murdered a few people, including Gwen Stacy. Carnage didn’t have a host, but it was trying to find additional Parker DNA to reform itself into a terrifying copy of Peter’s father.
5/13 The Spider-Man Revenge Squad Formed To Strike Back
Spider-Man didn’t really have a hand in creating most of the villains who would form together as the Spider-Man Revenge Squad. However, he had taken them down at some point in each of their villainous careers. While not known as Spider-Man’s most iconic villains, characters like The Spot, Kangaroo, Gibbon, and The Grizzly all decided to work together and get revenge.
Spider-Man also referred to the newly formed team of villains as the “Legion of Losers,” which further motivated them to get revenge on the hero. However, not all of the members were on the same page. Gibbon and Grizzly ultimately turned on the rest of the Spider-Man Revenge Squad, earning a temporary free pass from the web-slinger.
4/13 The Radioactive Spider Turned Carl King Into The Thousand
One of Peter Parker’s high school bullies witnessed him get bit by the radioactive spider that turned him into Spider-Man. Carl King noticed Parker’s increasing displays of power after the spider bite, so he returned to the lab at ESU. He located the dead spider that had bit Peter Parker and consumed it hoping to get his own special abilities.
Instead, he mutated into a monstrous hive mind of spiders that could consume others from the inside out. He then filled their bodies with his spiders and wore their skin. He spent years building his power to take on Spider-Man by consuming others. King became The Thousand, though he died after accidental contact with an electrical panel fried his spiders.
3/13 Harry Osborn Became The Green Goblin To Get Revenge
The first Green Goblin to torment Spider-Man was Norman Osborn. While Osborn wore a few different costumed identities over the years, his persona of the Green Goblin would get the most traction from other villains. After Norman Osborn’s apparent death in battle with Spider-Man, his body was left for his son to bury.
Harry Osborn developed a lasting hatred for Spider-Man that inspired him to take drastic measures. After learning of his father’s identity, he decided to follow in his footsteps as the second Green Goblin. His father wanted to be a crime boss, but Harry Osborn only put on the costume to get revenge on Spider-Man.
2/13 Hydro-Man Blamed Spider-Man For His Transformation
Morris “Morrie” Bench was a crewman working aboard a research vessel at sea. Spider-Man was protecting the ship after it had been attacked by Namor. However, when an experimental engine was lowered into the water, an electrical cable snapped and threatened everybody. Spider-Man reacted fast to contain it, but he unknowingly knocked Bench off the ship and into the water.
Bench fell into the water with the experimental generator, which transformed his body. He became the villain known as Hydro-Man and blamed Spider-Man for his transformation. As Hydro-Man, he attempted to get his revenge a few different times before settling into a new life of crime as one of Spider-Man’s most disliked villains.
1/13 Spider-Man’s Radioactive Blood Helped Create Tendril
Peter Parker’s clone Ben Reilly adopted his best costume when he took over as Spider-Man. During that period, Peter Parker and his pregnant wife MJ moved to Portland to start a new life. He got a job at the same company responsible for the device that irradiated the spider that bit him. Parker discovered a test subject there named River Verys who was dying from a skin condition.
Scientists experimented on him using the same process that created Spider-Man. Parker mixed his irradiated blood with a sample of Verys to see what would happen. Unfortunately, a scientist then injected that sample into Verys. He transformed into a murderous web-like monster known as Tendril. Parker eventually cured Tendril but at the cost of his own spider abilities.
