10 Most Evil Versions Of Spider-Man

7. Sinister Spider-Man - Dark Avengers

Spider-Man Doppelganger
Marvel Comics

Mac Gargan is one of Spider-Man's oldest rivals, with Gargan initially debuting in 1964's The Amazing Spider-Man #19 before then becoming the villainous Scorpion in the following issue.

In addition to a lengthy career as the Scorpion, Mac at one point also became Venom, which nicely led into him then taking on the mantle of Spider-Man.

So, how can someone with decades' worth of evil intentions behind them be worthy of the Spider-Man moniker? Well, that's because this was all part of a masterplan from Norman Osborn.

After Osborn constructed his own underhand Thunderbolts team - which itself was a follow-up to Norman's Sinister Twelve that featured a Venom symbiote-bonded Gargan - Mac was present when that group evolved into the Dark Avengers. Again a villainous faction headed up by Norman Osborn, here we had the Venom symbiote tweaked so that it was less erratic and looked more like Spider-Man during the time Peter first wore the black suit. As such, Osborn renamed Gargan as Dark Spider-Man, aka Sinister Spider-Man.

This Dark Spider-Man wasted no time in topping the heinous acts of his time as Scorpion and Venom, with Mac now intent on eating those who stood in his way as he became consumed by the addictive aggression of this altered symbiote.

Gargan would drop the Spider-Man name and finally be banished of the Venom symbiote, period, by 2010's Big Time tale - although he would still revert back to his Scorpion persona.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.