Ramblings Spider-Man 3 Coverage Continues: The Villains of Spider-Man 3

Hello kids, and Happy Spider-Man 3 Day!

I went to an afternoon showing of the film earlier today with Ali and will be writing my review of the film shortly. I wanted to give myself some time to chew on the film, and I still have to help you, the non-comic reader, get prepped for seeing the film.

Spider-Man 3 breaks the convention of the last two films in that it features not one, but three villains. This news was released about a year or so ago, and was met with great hesitance by the comic book fan community. The reason is because we’re still very sore from the fiasco that was 1997’s “Batman and Robin,” a disaster that put a franchise in ICU and featured three villains.

Thankfully, I can attest that Spider-Man 3 is by no means anywhere in the neighborhood of suckitude that is Batman and Robin. But like that hated film, it does feature three baddies for our hero to battle. Just who are they and what should you know about them going in?

The first is a character whose roots stretch back to the beginning of the Spider-Man mythos. The Sandman debuted back in 1964’s Amazing Spider-Man #4. The Sandman was the third real “super-villain” Spidey faced, trailing after The Vulture and Doctor Octopus.

Sandman’s origin is simple in the comics: common thief Flink Marko is on the run from the law’s long arm when he wanders onto an atomic testing field. A bomb is detonated, and its radiation merges Marko’s body with nearby sand. Marko learns he can change his shape at will and uses his newfound abilities to continue his life of crime. Spidey intervenes, and actually gets a pretty bad pounding before using his wits to capture Sandman in an industrial shop vacuum (yeah, I know…but it was 1964). Ol’ Sandy would return again and again to plague Spidey, and even became a hero briefly before returning to crime.

The second villain of SM-3 isn’t really a villain at all as much as a tragic soul close to Peter Parker: his best friend, Harry Osborn, son of Norman Osborn, The Green Goblin.

You’ll recall that Norman’s Green Goblin was the main villain of the first Spider-Man film, and that he died at his own hand at the film’s end. The second film showcased Harry’s degenerating friendship with Peter and his eventual discovery that Norman was the Goblin, by way of a secret stash of weapons and gear.

In the comics, Peter first met Harry when they both started college. Peter and Harry became quick friends, along with Mary Jane. Peter was shocked to learn that Harry’s father Norman was Spider-Man’s deadly foe, the Green Goblin, who also discovered that Peter was Spider-Man. Norman and Peter’s conflict came to a head when Norman tossed Peter’s first true love, Gwen Stacy, off a bridge. Peter used his web in an attempt to save Gwen, but the force of the fall snapped her neck. Enraged, Peter viciously fought Norman, and during the course of the fight, Norman tried to impale Peter with his glider, but ended up killing himself in the process. If this sounds familiar, it’s because much of this storyline was adapted with some changes for the first Spider-Man film.

The stress of dealing with his father’s erratic behavior and lack of approval led Harry to become a drug addict. Harry secretly witnessed the Goblin’s death and hid any evidence that Norman was the villain. Eventually, Harry discovered that Peter was in fact Spider-Man, and decided to become The Green Goblin and enact revenge. Through the course of various events, Harry suffers a concussion and loses his memory that Peter is Spider-Man. However, Harry’s long-suffering mind eventually buckles under the stress, and the taunting of his father’s “ghost” lead him to subject himself to the Green Goblin formula, which drives him completely insane. Harry and Peter fight one last time, and Harry has the upper hand. But the good man that Harry always was wins out, and he saves Peter from death before dying himself from the effects of an overdose of the Goblin formula.

The third and final villain in Spider-Man 3 is a character who entered the Spider-Man mythos later than the previous two, specifically, in the late 1980s. When Spider-Man rejected his alien costume, it appeared to be dead. In truth, it retreated into the church where Spider-Man defeated it and bonded with Eddie Brock. Brock was a one-time reporter who made his name by helping capture a vicious serial killer named The Sin-Eater. Unfortunately for Brock, Spider-Man captured the true killer, and Brock’s name and reputation were destroyed, along with his marriage. Unbeknownst to Peter, Brock was at the same church, praying for mercy and contemplating suicide. The alien costume sensed Brock’s strong emotions and overtook him. Together, Brock and the symbiote became a new villain who called himself Venom.

Not only did Venom have all of Spider-Man’s powers because of the alien’s time with Spider-Man, he also knew that Peter Parker and Spider-Man were one and the same.

Venom revealed himself by first visiting Mary Jane, who initially mistook Venom for Peter. Spider-Man and Venom would do battle many times over the years, and Venom became one of Spider-Man’s most popular and deadly villains, his appeal lying in the fact that he was a dark, twisted version of Spider-Man.

There you have it, folks, the scoop on the three baddies in Spider-Man 3. My next update will be my review of Spider-Man 3, followed by a new discovery I’ve made in another hobby beloved to me: the world of beer.