(This article will contain MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Far From Home. If you haven’t seen the film just yet, you should definitely bookmark this page, go see it because it is awesome, and return once you have.)
Before we get into the actual list, we have to get through a few important details. First up is a bit of a final warning. This is going to be filled with all sorts of Spider-Man: Far From Home spoilers, so be ready for that.
When you look at the MCU Spidey films, you notice a couple of recurring trends. One of these recurring trends lies with its antagonists. Not only are they more sympathetic and flawed characters. Not only are they affected by the actions of the late Tony Stark. But they are fresh to the eyes of the general audience.
It seems that Marvel and Sony have made some sort of moneymaking blood-pact to use Spidey rogues not seen before on the big screen. So, for the sake of this list, we are going to mainly look at characters who haven’t gotten a chance to face off with everyone’s favorite web-head in a movie yet. Now that we got that covered, let’s jump right into it:
1) Kingpin
Variety previously reported that Marvel cannot use any character from these canceled Netflix shows until at least two years after their cancellation. This means, in the case of Daredevil, we cannot see these characters in any new Marvel content until November 2020 (at the earliest). Production on the third Spidey movie most likely won’t be fast-tracked that quickly. Like that quote from Dumb & Dumber goes, “So, you’re saying there’s a chance?”.
Not only would it be a treat to see D’Onofrio’s Kingpin interact with Tom Holland’s awkward, quippy version of Spider-Man but this would be the perfect way to officially introduce Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Wouldn’t that be just astonishing. https://t.co/qqgWhy8Dlr
— Vincent D’Onofrio (@vincentdonofrio) July 7, 2019
In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Mysterio briefly becomes a mentor to Peter. This friendship evolves throughout the first half of the movie and it drives Peter’s emotional motivation near the end when he has to confront the man he trusted to be the next Iron Man. Of course, we as the audience saw this turn coming a mile away but from Peter’s perspective, this was an eye-opener that you can’t trust everyone claiming to be a “hero”.
In a potential sequel, we could see a much more alienated Peter Parker who has become a little paranoid by Mysterio’s actions. After being outed as Spider-Man and blamed for Mysterio’s “murder”, Peter could need a lawyer to sort all this mess out too. Just saying.
2) Chameleon
Okay, Dmitri Smerdyakov AKA the Chameleon is not a well-known Spidey villain. If not for the classic 90s animated series, I would have no idea who this guy is myself. Like Vulture, Scorpion, and Shocker, he’s more of a C-list baddie that is better suited in a group. But, Spider-Man: Far From Home may have already set up Chameleon’s introduction.
For those who don’t know about this reptile-esque character, Chameleon has the ability to change his appearance. Basically, he has the same powers as the Skrulls. Which brings us to the post-credits of Far From Home.
During the final post-credits scene for Far From Home, it was revealed that Nick Fury and Maria Hill were never actually in the movie. Instead, Captain Marvel’s Talos and Soren took the place of Fury and Hill, respectively. This was mostly played for laughs as Nick Fury was seen to be just chilling in space somewhere in a new secret base. But, what if this was a hint of something more?
The MCU version of Chameleon could be a Skrull. We even had a character named Dimitri who was apart of the Skrull/S.H.I.E.L.D. team trying to take down the Elementals. There’s a very good chance that this is just a coincidence. However, it’s fun to theorize about so here we are.
Mysterio’s drones are another way to introduce the character. Just one of these drones would be perfect for Chameleon to change his form, even if it is just a trick illusion. It would also be a neat way to keep Mysterio’s tech around, even if the character is long gone.
(For more on a Chameleon is a Skrull theory, you should definitely check out this article from ScreenRant. They go into it in far more detail.)
3) Scorpion
Turns out, this villain has already been introduced into the MCU. Mac Gargan AKA Scorpion is played by Better Call Saul’s Michael Mando. After being incidentally taken down due to the brawl between Vulture and Spider-Man during Homecoming, Gargan ended up in prison. There he met up with the newly incarcerated Vulture, teasing a future team up down the line in order to kill Spider-Man. Gargan said he knew a few people who wanted to take out Spider-Man and all he needed was his real name. Although the villain doesn’t appear in Far From Home, Gargan could be the main antagonist for the third Spidey film.
This is due to the truly mindblowing mid-credits scene that saw Mysterio reveal Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world. In that scene, we see J.K. Simmons reprise his legendary role as J. Jonah Jameson. Jameson is vastly important to Gargan’s origins in the comics as he provides the funding for his mechanical suit. His origins are similar in the old 90s animated series and even Marvel’s Spider-Man.
With Peter’s secret identity revealed and Jameson placing the “murder” of Mysterio on the web-head, it would make perfect sense to see this crazy conspiracy-driven journalist greenlight an experimental procedure on someone like Gargan in order to take down Spider-Man.
4) Kraven the Hunter
It’s hard to keep a straight face when talking about adding Kraven the Hunter to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And I’m not joking around or making fun of the character in any way. I’m grinning ear to ear just thinking about the potential of this showdown.
Sure, there’s been some talk of him possibly being in the inevitable Black Panther 2 but that’s pretty unrealistic, at least for now. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler loved the character and wanted him for the original movie but Sony owns the rights to Kraven so it wasn’t meant to be.
Seeing the ultimate hunter stalk Spider-Man (the ultimate prey) is an interesting concept to explore. Turns out, Coogler wasn’t alone in his love for the Kraven character. Homecoming and Far From Home director Jon Watts recently sat down to talk with Uproxx and discussed which Spider-Man villain he would like to use if the decision was completely up to him:
Maybe Sony and Marvel agrees with Watts and puts Kraven in the next film. Maybe they go in a different direction. The character has a solo film in the works at Sony as well so it seems like we’ll see Kraven appear on the big screen in some way in a few years. If Sony does decide to move forward with this solo movie, let’s just hope we don’t hear Kraven talk about any turds in the wind.
5) Mister Negative
Yes, my whole reasoning for this character being in the next Spider-Man movie is based on Insomniac’s recent game. Just bear with me here.
Martin Li AKA Mister Negative has the ability to control people’s minds, heal others, and charge up weapons with some sort of energy. Look, I’ve read through about three different wiki pages on him, played through the entirety of Marvel’s Spider-Man and I’m still not totally sure about what all this guy can do. And I think that’s actually a good thing.
He has interesting abilities, a cool look, and he’s a newer Spider-Man rogue compared to anyone else mentioned above. While Li isn’t my favorite pick on this list, adding him to Spider-Man 3 would allow for a lot more creative freedom with the character.
6) The Sinister Six
See what I did there? Made this whole list just for that pun. Seriously. Yeah, I know. I need to get a life.
Vulture, Scorpion, and Shocker have all already been introduced and are ready to be put in the long-awaited Sinister Six lineup. All we need is two more lowly C-list antagonists and a leader for the group.
If Marvel and Sony want to do their Sinister Six movie as soon as possible, we could very well see it with Tom Holland’s third solo film. Half the villain roster is already developed enough and ready to assemble. Round out the team with lower-tier criminals that don’t warrant official introductions such as Rhino or Electro. That just leaves the mysterious leader of the infamous team.
Homecoming and Far From Home have both teased that Avengers tower is no more and they refuse to reveal who has bought the building for some reason. Norman Osborn AKA the Green Goblin is the most logical pick there and it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to see him introduced as the financial leader behind the Sinister Six.
If this does happen, there are still a ton of questions left to be answered. How would Osborn turn into Green Goblin? Why does he hate Spider-Man? How does he team up with the other five members?
All these are very valid questions and luckily, I’m not a screenplay writer. I’m just a dude with a keyboard theorizing about a third Spider-Man movie. I mean, it can’t get any worse than this:
And that’s my list of the six Spider-Man villains who could be in the next solo movie. Whether we see any of these characters appear or not, we are in store for a very original third installment of the Spider-Man: Homecoming series. Marvel boss Kevin Feige has said as much during an interview with Fandango. Here’s what Feige had to say when asked if that mid-credits scene would be a major storyline for Peter Parker going forward:
