Now thatSpider-Man: No Way Homeis out and Spidey (Tom Holland) has been pit against the most iconic villains fromvarious Spider-Man incarnations, namely theToby MaguireandAndrew Garfieldfilms, it’s easy to see that some Spider-Man adversaries are smarter than others. With this list, we’re ranking all of Spider-Man’s foes based solely on their intelligence (and not their powersets).
Just a head’s up, there are some SPOILERS forSpider-Man: No Way Homeahead!
15. Jackson Brice/Shocker (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Seeing as how Jackson Brice (Logan Marshall-Green) aka the first Shocker is killed by Toomes pretty quickly intoSpider-Man: Homecoming(albeit, accidentally), it’s made clear from his first (and only) interactions with Spider-Man that he isn’t the sharpest tool in the box. Amazingly, he’s even less useful to Vulture and his crew than the Rhino…
14. Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Possibly the most hated villain from any of the Spidey films, Aleksei is a low-level thug who Spider-Man humiliates near the beginning ofThe Amazing Spider-Man 2, and isn’t seen again until the end. The film closes with Aleksei in an Oscorp military-grade Rhino suit that allows him to engage Spider-Man on a more even playing field. We don’t see how this fight ends, but we know fromNo Way Homethat Peter won. But one this is made clear from Aleksei’s limited screen time: he’s kind of a moron.
13. Mac Gargan/Scorpion (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Though he hasn’t donned his comic book counterpart’s Scorpion battle-suit or Venom symbiote so far (here’s hoping!), Mac Gargan (Michael Mando) is a weapon dealer/buyer who doesn’t really seem to do much other than getting caught by Spider-Man. It seems that his “street smarts” are based more on the use of weapons rather than the making of them, but since he doesn’t get a lot of screen time it’s pretty unclear how much know-how Gargan really has.
12. Herman Schultz/Shocker (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
The second man inSpider-Man: Homecomingto take up the Shocker mantle, Herman Schultz (Bokeem Woodbine) manages to make better use of his vibro-blast gauntlets than their previous owner. Not only does he face off against Spider-Man more than once, but there are moments where he actually gains the upper hand. Still, without Adrian Toomes and the Tinkerer, Schultz wouldn’t have been bright enough to pull any of it off, but sometimes the smartest thing to do is rely on your team.
12. Flint Marko/Sandman (Spider-Man 3,Spider-Man: No Way Home)
Flint Marko (Thomas Hayden Church), better known as the Sandman, is the low-level criminal who accidentally killed Peter’s Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). Marko doesn’t have much of an education, and has only one goal in mind (saving his daughter), making his bank-robbing goals pretty simplistic. In fact, it’s sometimes even hard to call Marko a villain, especially in the wake ofSpider-Man: No Way Home, but his sand-wielding powerset manages to be one of the most dangerous adversaries that Spidey has ever faced.
11. Eddie Brock/Venom (Spider-Man 3)
Fellow Daily Bugle photographer Eddie Brock, Jr. (Topher Grace) is a bit of a loose cannon, but this loose canon also manages to have mad Photoshop skills that go completely unnoticed until Peter points them out and causes Eddie to be fired. To make matters worse, Peter also rejects the alien symbiote who bonds with Eddie to become Venom. As Venom, Eddie gains all of Peter’s memories and skills and has all of the intellect of the alien intelligence. It’s unclear if the Symbiote has access to the “Symbiote hive mind” that had been established in the comics, so just based on what we know fromSpider-Man 3, this version of Venom isn’t the sharpest tool, but isn’t blunt either.
10. Harry Osborn/Green Goblin (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Marc Webb’s incarnation of the younger Osborn (played byDane DeHaan), eventually developed the same decaying disease as his father, and he kind of loses it when he finds out. Taking on the armor and glider meant for his father, Harry injects himself with a venom made from the same spiders that gave Peter his powers, only to transform into a hideous goblin-like creature. Then, after all that, he finally deduces that Spider-Man and his buddy Peter are one-in-the-same (something the Raimi version couldn’t figure out on his own), causing him to go nuts and kill Gwen, the one thing that tied his version of Spider-Man to their world.
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9. Harry Osborn/New Goblin (Spider-Man Trilogy)
Although Harry Osborn (James Franco) wouldn’t have made it through high school science without Peter, it didn’t deter him from becoming Oscorp’s head of genetic and scientific research following Norman’s death in the first Raimi film. Inheritance aside, Harry manages to not only inject himself with Norman’s same Goblin formula but train himself to expertly use all of his father’s equipment without any prior knowledge of the Oscorp projects they stemmed from. His quick understanding of both the Goblin formula and weaponry proves that Harry is just as formidable a foe. He may not be Norman Osborn, but he’s an Osborn nevertheless.
8. Adrian Toomes/The Vulture (Spider-Man: Homecoming,Morbius)
Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) helped develop his own Vulture exo-suit, including the wing-turbines, talons, and his blaster, and began a criminal empire in the midst of the “Battle of New York.” Besides all that technical expertise, Toomes also managed to quickly deduce Spider-Man’s true identity and blackmail him into no longer interfering with his plans to steal more Stark tech. While the blackmail doesn’t stick, Toomes keeps Spidey’s secret close to his chest for future use (though afterNo Way Homehe shouldn’t remember it anymore).
7. Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Phineas Mason (Michael Chernus) may not be the most well-known villain fromSpider-Man: Homecoming, but he’s pivotal to the film’s plot. A salvager-turned-criminal, the Tinkerer quickly proves himself vital to New York City’s illegal weapons trade. Having been able to reverse-engineer the Chitari’s alien tech, Ultron’s robotics, Stark weapons, and even repurpose Crossbones' vibro-blast gauntlets, this dude is one of Spider-Man’s smartest adversaries, seemingly without any formal scientific training. Without him, the Vulture wouldn’t have made it far off the ground.
