As befitting of his moniker, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man’s villains typically hailed from New York, like the Web-Slinger himself. Most of them were sympathetic working-class people who got a bad hand in life, while the most monstrous were the wealthy elite whose powers rarely (if ever) went beyond New York City.
This didn’t mean that Peter Parker was spared from world-ending menaces. Despite his street-level appeal and adventures, Spider-Man occasionally fought supervillains who posed a threat to the entire world. The Marvel Universe was lucky that Spider-Man found a way to defeat these villains before they became global menaces.
10 The Tri-Sentinel
Created by Erik Larsen and David Michelinie
The genocidal Sentinels are mostly associated with the X-Men, but one of their most powerful variants menaced Spider-Man. Created by Loki with the sole mission of exterminating humanity, the Tri-Sentinel almost ended the world in its two major appearances. Spider-Man notably needed cosmic powers to stop it, and even then, his victory was extremely difficult to achieve.
Since it was imbued with Asgardian magic, the Tri-Sentinel was automatically stronger and deadlier than the standard Sentinel. Worse, Gaunt later created a Tri-Sentinel army from the original’s remains. The Tri-Sentinel was such a nigh-unstoppable global threat that Marvel kept it out of canon for almost 30 years.
9 Regent
Created by Paco Diaz, Christos N. Gage, and Dan Slott
When August Roman decided that all forms of superpowers should be controlled by none other than himself, he became the immovable Regent. Not only did Regent have the power to absorb any superhero’s or supervillain’s powers, but he was also the warden of his self-made superhuman prison, The Cellar.
At his strongest, Regent defeated all of Marvel’s biggest heroes until only Spider-Man and Iron Man were left. Regent didn’t have any plans of world domination, but he was powerful enough to do so if he wanted to. Regent was such a powerful global threat that Marvel noticeably locked him in The Cellar for years.
8 Wayeb’
Created by Chris Bachalo and Zeb Wells
Wayeb’ was the Mayan god of mischief, and one of the many gods Spider-Man fought in his recent adventures. Wayeb’ wanted to destroy Earth, but needed an avatar to summon him first. He chose Benjamin Rabin (the father of the controversial Paul), who became a serial killer enthralled by the old god’s might.
Right now, Wayeb’ has done little to the Marvel Universe. This was only because Benjamin failed his final test, and an enraged Wayeb’ left by his own accord. The scariest thing about Wayeb’ was that nobody knows his full might. Even so, it’s safe to assume that he was one of Marvel’s deadliest (if under-used) global threats.
7 Mephisto
Created by John Buscema and Stan Lee
Mephisto may feel like a misplaced Dr. Strange villain in Spider-Man’s otherwise grounded stories, but he left a permanent scar on Peter Parker’s life. Mephisto was a reality-warping lord of Hell. He could technically do a lot more than just rewrite Peter’s life in exchange for his marriage to MJ, but he hasn’t.
This was only because Mephisto was (and still is) biding his time and has yet to unleash his full might. That said, Mephisto only needed a fraction of his strength to become a threat to the world. The only things that held Mephisto back were his need to make deals, and the glee he took in dragging out the torture.
6 Shathra
Created by John Romita Jr. and J. Michael Straczynski
When it was revealed that Peter Parker got his powers from ancient gods rather than science, the goddess Shathra became one of his deadliest enemies. Shathra was the avatar of the Spider-Wasp. She made it her life’s mission to destroy the Great Web, kill all spider hosts, and put her Great Nest in its place.
Shathra’s godhood let her traverse the multiverse with ease, and kill whichever spider avatar she came across. Even if Peter could defeat Shathra, the best he could do was momentarily contain her. Most recently, it took the strength of all Spider-People from the franchise-saving Spider-Verse to banish her from reality rather than kill her.
5 Carnage (Cletus Kasady)
Created by Mark Bagley and David Michelinie
Just because Venom and Eddie Brock turned their lives around didn’t mean that Spider-Man was done fighting evil Symbiotes like Carnage. Before dying, Carnage was a monstrous serial killer whose reign of terror was limited to New York City. But thanks to Knull, Carnage got resurrected as a global threat.
During and after Knull’s invasion of Earth, Carnage and Cleetus realized just how powerful they really were. Their dark ambitions expanded from tormenting Eddie and Peter to plotting global genocide. Now armed with knowledge of the Symbiotes’ true history and powers, Carnage and Cleetus became deadlier than ever before.
4 Morlun & The Inheritors
Morlun created by John Romita Jr. and J. Michael Straczynski; The Inheritors created by Jim Butcher, Christos N. Gage, and M.A. Sepulveda
At first, Morlun was just another Marvel vampire who needed something other than blood for sustenance. Morlun went after super-powered people who were blessed by animal totems, like Spider-Man. But after his initial defeats, Morlun resurfaced as a multiverse-traveling villain who threatened multiple worlds.
Morlun traveled across dimensions to drain the lifeforces of the Spider-Totem’s avatars. Even if Morlun was defeated, he could easily resurrect himself, or have one of his many variants take his place. The worst thing about Morlun was that he was only one of many vampiric Inheritors, who each had their own variants as well.
3 Doctor Octopus
Created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee
For the longest time, Doc Ock was just one of New York City’s resident evil scientists. But when he put his mind to it, Doc Ock became a global threat. Doc Ock nearly ended the world more than once and almost succeeded, despite being on the verge of death. His greatest victory was hijacking Peter’s body to become the Superior Spider-Man.
To prove himself “superior” to his predecessor, Doc Ock set out to “better” New York City and the world with his scientific genius. Despite Doc Ock’s good (if viciously utilitarian) intentions, he just made things worse. Doc Ock proved such a menace that even as a hero, he almost ended the world — even if by accident.
2 The Life Foundation
Created by Todd McFarlane and David Michelinie
The Life Foundation was a doomsday cult who believed that humanity’s end was nigh. Besides clashing with Spider-Man and making Symbiotes, what set them apart from other cults was that they comprised the world’s richest. With Carlton Drake’s leadership and influence, the Life Foundation manipulated their utopia into being.
The Life Foundation’s vision of utopia saw everyone from a lower class (i.e. most of humanity) as disposable, and with themselves as the rulers of the new world. Even if Spider-Man defeated their pawns, the Life Foundation was still out of reach. It’s highly unlikely that he would ever defeat them, or even face its leaders.
1 Norman Osborn
Created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee
The Green Goblin was Spider-Man’s most famous enemy, but his everyday self, Norman Osborn, was far more dangerous. The worst that the Green Goblin did was sow chaos in New York City and endanger Peter Parker’s loved ones. Meanwhile, Osborn upended the global status quo and almost destroyed Asgard just by being himself.
Norman Osborn used the chaos of the Civil War and Skrull invasion to usurp Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D., and twist public opinion in his favor. As H.A.M.M.E.R’s director, Osborn almost took over the world while hiding in plain sight. Osborn recently reformed, but the pain and evil he inflicted will take lifetimes to undo, let alone heal.