Okay, I know what you are thinking… The Amazing Spider-Man hasn’t even come out in theaters yet, so why are we thinking ahead to the next one? Well, simply put, we know that there will be a next one and it is fun to play the guessing game as to who might be in it (assuming that they aren’t in the first flick of the rebooted series). I have stayed away from spoilers and our spotlight (Film Spotlight: The Amazing Spider-man) is the extent of my knowledge of the new film. The Lizard appears to be the only villain getting the spotlight in commercials, but we know that Oscorp plays a hand, so how far can Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) truly be? In this list I’ll also be staying away from villains I thought/hoped would be apart of Spider-Man 4, which turned into The Amazing Spider-Man (hey, I was right on the money with the Lizard).

Lets start with a less likely possibility, Mysterio. He is one of Spider-Man’s oldest villains, having first  appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #13 in 1964. While many different people have donned the fishbowl, the original and best Mysterio was Quentin Beck, a failed special effects artist who uses parlor tricks and illusions to try and drive Spider-Man mad. Visually his costume is a bit cheesy and would need a big time movie makeover, but his “powers” could be pretty visually amazing (pun intended) in 3D and on the big screen. Plus, using him in even a smaller role in the sequel could be a nice early set up for bringing together the Sinister Six in a future movie (whose to say Spider-Man can’t face multiple villains over the course of the movie while dealing with a bigger threat– one villain at a time seems too easy on the hero).

How about the Scorpion? He appeared a couple issues after Mysterio in 1965. J Jonah Jameson (is he even in Amazing Spider-Man?) was responsible for this villain’s creation. He paid Mac Gargan to be apart of an experimental animal mutation therapy, which granted him with enhanced speed, strength and endurance, but had a side effect of driving him mad. He wears a (of course) scorpion based costume with a long stinger. Just like Mysterio it might be hard to make him a central villain, but who is to say he can’t work for Jameson- who in his quest to rid the city of the masked menace that is Spider-Man sets a few different villains loose. Only realizing what he has done too late. More recently Gargan took over the mantle of Venom during Marvel’s “Dark Reign”.

The living vampire Morbius! Hey, vampires are all the rage, right? Well, here is a way to have a vampire styled character but not have the need to incorperate the supernatural into the world of Spider-Man. Dr Michael Morbius attempts to cure his rare blood disease by testing an experimental treatment that uses vampire bats and electroshock therapy on himself. The result is that he turns himself into a horrible looking vampire like creature who needs to digest blood to survive. “Side effects” include the power of flight, super strength and a quick healing ability. Morbius and Spider-Men fighting through NYC at night would be quite breathtaking. His story would also be strong enough to focus a whole film on. The only problem is that his backstory might be a bit too similar to the Lizard’s origin (both are doctors trying to “cure” something about themselves). Morbius has a better handle and is a more outspoken villain than the Lizard.

Okay, now don’t get me wrong, I can totally understand why Marvel/Sony/Marc Webb would want to stay away from rehashing any of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies by reusing villains like the Green Goblin. But there is a way around that! Who wouldn’t love to see the Hobgoblin on the big screen? Instead of having Norman Osborn accidentally become the Green Goblin after the goblin serum drives him insane, lets have a man who purposely turns himself into a “goblin” villain to become a successful villain.  Sure, there have been a half dozen Hobgoblins, but that works towards the filmmaker’s advantage as it would be a lot harder to piss off fans even if you make big changes to the person behind the mask. Roderick Kingsley could be an Osborn employee who uses the serum on himself to get all of the abilities, but then messes with it so the next person that takes it is driven insane (Norman Osborn). This could lead to a pretty cool climax with Spider-Man stuck in the middle of an epic fight between the Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin.

Are you excited for The Amazing Spider-Man? What villains would you like to show up in future sequels? Who would you like to portray them?