10 Wild Versions Of Spider-Man That Could Actually Work On Film

9. Patton Parnel

Spider-Verse #2 Miles Morales Aunt May
Marvel Comics

Man-Spider would be an easy entry on this list, but Marvel already considered a similar plot for their What If...? series and decided that Peter's transformation into a real spider was too horrific for their target demo. As such, those familiar with Patton Parnel's appearance in Edge of Spider-Verse may wonder what he's doing on this list.

Not only does Parnel take on the features of a humanoid spider, he then goes on a sadistic cannibal killing spree that claims the lives of his abusive Uncle Ted, several neighborhood pets, and an innocent little boy. He then implants girl-next-door Sara Jane with tiny egg sacs that hatch beneath her flesh and presumably kill her.

To make matters worse, he's actually set up as a budding sociopath well before his transformation. Prior to his spider bite, we see him torturing animals, peeping through Sara Jane's window, and daydreaming about the deaths of his classmates.

So how could such a dark character make it onto the big screen? Surprisingly, like most of the characters on this list, Parnel's best fit would be in Sony's family-friendly Spider-Verse.

While the darker elements of Parnel's character would need some sugar-coating, the planned expansion of the Spider-Verse makes it all too likely that the Spidey Squad will eventually come face to face with some less heroic versions of themselves.

With a few admittedly major adjustments to his character (such as emphasizing the fact that he suffered his spider bites while liberating lab animals), Parnel could be recast as a more sympathetic and possibly even redeemable secondary villain.

In this post: 
Spider-Man
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

Kieran enjoys overanalyzing and arguing about pop culture, believing that heated debates can (and should) be had in good fun. He currently lives in Fort Worth, TX, where he spends his time chatting with strangers on the bus and forcing them to look at pictures of his dog.