FROM THE PRIVATE FILES OF WILSON FISK                                              
PASSWORD *******
 
- PASSWORD ACCEPTED -
AUTHORIZATION: CONFIRMED
 



 
"Hello. My name is Wilson Fisk, but I am also known as the Kingpin of Crime. I have been burdened with many enemies over the years, but none have been as persistent or as powerful as that meddling Spider-Man. He has become a thorn in my side, and is considered as, quite literally, an insignificant bug that must be squashed. But I am not the only enemy that Spider-Man has. Fortunately, I have managed to meet - and manipulate - almost all of them. They are all threats in their own right, some more powerful or more clever than others...or both. But in the end, they all have one thing in common: they all want Spider-Man destroyed. You will find my comments on each and every one of these despicable foes beneath their images. I will tell you who they really are, what they can do, how great of a threat they are to Spider-Man, and a second opinion on these foes from the very creator/moderator of this website. Read on if you must, but remember, a lot of time went into the biographies for these villains. I do not waste my time on just any one, you know.  I DO have an empire to build..."
 
 
 
___________________________________________________________________ 
WILSON FISK/THE KINGPIN

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: Too many to count
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Ever since I became aware of Spider-Man's so-called 'super-heroics', I have taken it upon myself to plot his demise. After all, Spider-Man would never use his powers to serve me and that foolishness will cost him his life. I have been unable to find out how he got those powers, or why he does what he does, but that is irrelevant. Spider-Man is the biggest threat to my criminal empire, gaining support against me from other costumed clowns like Daredevil and even my own creation, the Black Cat.  I admit I have been unsuccessful in destroying him so far.  But one day, I WILL have my revenge.  No one crosses the Kingpin and survives."
MY TAKE: The Kingpin appeared a lot on this show.  And since he was a series regular, I do mean a lot.  Unfortunately, he showed up so often that he wore out his welcome.  A lot of the time, his presence wasn't really needed.  Even so, I won't hold it against the late, great voice actor for the Kingpin: Roscoe Lee Browne.  He was the perfect voice for the Kingpin and the character had a lot of memorable moments on this show.  The only major complaint I have for the character is that he was usually ordering the other villains around, and most of them didn't need to be bossed around by Kingpin.  They could be just as fine against Spider-Man alone without being bossed around by a bald fat dude.
[MESSAGE ENTRY FROM WILSON FISK: "'Bald fat dude', am I?!? 'Wore out my welcome', did I?  Landon!!  Find out who this rude, simple-minded person is!! I want him dealt with immediately!!"]
 
 

ALISTAIR SMYTHE

Alistair Smythe in his hoverchair, as seen in Seasons One to Three


Alistair Smythe as the Ultimate Spider-Slayer, from late Season Three onwards

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 9 (too many to count as normal Alistair Smythe; he appears in 7 episodes as the Ultimate Spider-Slayer, and in 2 as an alternate reality Smythe)
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter VIII: The Ultimate Slayer"
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter V: Partners"
SEASON FIVE - "The Wedding", "The Return of Hydro-Man, Part 2" (cameo appearance), and the "Secret Wars" 3-parter; "Spider-Wars, Chapter I: I Really, Really Hate Clones" and "Spider-Wars, Chapter II: Farewell, Spider-Man" (as an alternate-reality Smythe in both "Spider-Wars" episodes)
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Spencer Smythe was a brilliant robotics expert, and was a valued associate of mine.  The defeat of his Black Widow Spider-Slayer was very disappointing and when Spencer apparently perished when his lair exploded, his equally-brilliant son Alistair was devastated and vowed revenge on those who he blamed for his disappearance.  I saw the opportunity to bring Alistair into my fold and have him pick up where his father left off.  He never suspected that I had secretly found his father and placed him in suspended animation for his failures.  Alistair accepted my job offer and built several Spider-Slayers in an attempt to destroy the man I convinced him was really behind his father's disappearance: Spider-Man.  But Alistair's Slayer robots failed me again and again, and his attempt to frame Spider-Man's photographer friend Peter Parker brought even more trouble to my operations.  Spider-Man became aware of my existence, I gained a new adversary in the red-garbed buffoon Daredevil, and my own son Richard was arrested and taken to prison.  When Smythe attempted to betray me afterwards, I managed to catch him and decided to have my new henchman Herbert Landon replace Smythe as my lieutenant.  Together, we managed to transform Smythe into the very thing his father loved: a robot.  Despite his new android body, Smythe still failed to destroy Spider-Man and even kept his human emotions and memories, despite our best attempts to block them out.  When Spider-Man discovered that I was keeping Spencer Smythe in cryogenic stasis and he told Alistair, he became even more dangerous.  Now employed by my crime lord rival Silvermane, Smythe continues to build Spider-Slayers while he patiently waits until his father awakens from his cryogenic sleep.  It is a pity that I must destroy such a brilliant mind, but despite our history, I mustn't be fooled.  Alistair is a very dangerous enemy... and I always eliminate my enemies." 
MY TAKE: I loved Alistair Smythe, and he remains one of my all-time favorite characters on this series, evil or otherwise.  I actually knew of Alistair's voice actor, Maxwell Caulfield, before "Spider-Man" aired because I ended up watching the movie "Grease 2" a lot with my sisters when I was a kid.  Caulfield absolutely nailed the role of Alistair Smythe and he was just so much fun to watch for the first three seasons.  When he became the Ultimate Spider-Slayer, I loved what they'd done with him: the look, the robotic voice, everything.  When he found his father, which I didn't expect, and vowed they'd get revenge on their enemies when his father awakened, I thought it was an awesome cliffhanger of things to come and yet it also served as a fitting conclusion to Smythe's story.  But when he popped up in seasons four and five, Alistair just wasn't given anything good to do in those episodes and he wasn't as dangerous as he'd once been.  And why, God?  Why the overload of Spider-Slayers on this show?  Those pesky robots were fun to see from time to time, but when I saw the Goblin-like Spider-Slayer robots in season five's "The Wedding" episode, I was just sick of seeing Alistair's Spider-Slayers.  They just weren't needed anymore after season three and none of the Slayers from seasons four or five were as cool as the Spider-Slayers from the first two seasons of the show.  Also, oddly enough, once Smythe and Kingpin had gone their separate ways after "The Ultimate Slayer", neither character was as interesting solo than when they were together.  Herbert Landon, to me, was and still is cool.  But that said, he wasn't a worthy replacement to Alistair Smythe.  Aside from improving on the Super-Soldier formula, what else did he really do?  Smythe was brilliant and created an army of metal robots, but Landon seemed more of a researcher and chemist type since he ran his own corporation in season two.  Despite the fact they only did dialogue together, there's no denying there was truly brilliant chemistry between voice actors Caulfield and Roscoe Lee Browne (Kingpin).  They were great together and played off each other wonderfully.  If Smythe got to fight Spider-Man more one-on-one as the Ultimate Slayer in seasons four and five, that would've been fine.  He didn't need to invent anymore Spider-Slayer robots: he WAS a Slayer, and was much cooler and more dangerous than most of the robots he even created.  It's a shame such a cool character got such crummy treatment in seasons four and five of a truly brilliant animated series. Nevertheless, that doesn't make the character any less awesome and I can't give enough kudos to John Semper and company for doing such a great job with Smythe.
 
 

NORMAN OSBORN/THE GREEN GOBLIN

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 6 (5 as the Green Goblin; 1 as an alternate reality Green Goblin)
SEASON THREE - "The Sins of the Fathers, Chapter IV: Enter the Green Goblin", "The Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XIII: Goblin War!" and "The Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XIV: Turning Point"
SEASON FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter VIII: Return of the Green Goblin" (as seen in limbo)
SEASON FIVE: "The Wedding" (still in limbo), "Spider-Wars, Part 1: I Really, Really Hate Clones" (as an alternate reality Green Goblin)
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "When I first saw the Green Goblin, he was flying right for my helicopter and waved at me with that loathsome smile on his masked face.  I ordered my pilot to knock him out of the sky, but he was too fast for my weapons to hit him and he promptly abducted me with a titanium cable lassoed around my waist.  I would later encounter him when he tracked the Hobgoblin to my hideout and chased his predecessor outside when he attacked him.  But after his last encounter with Spider-Man, the Goblin went missing for several weeks, the same time that my associate Norman Osborn also disappeared.  After being absent for several months, the Green Goblin returned.  I had later learned that Harry Osborn crashed the wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, dressed as the Green Goblin.  Sure, he had the costume and the arsenal, but I wasn't fooled.  Harry quickly surrendered when he learned his friend, Liz Allen, cared for him and he agreed to have her take him back to Ravencroft to continue treatment.  The Green Goblin I knew would have NEVER given up so easily or had been so weak.  Since then, I therefore deduced his missing father, Norman, must have been the REAL Green Goblin and that Harry was merely carrying on in his name.  As Norman Osborn had created the Hobgoblin's weaponry and sent him to try to eliminate me, I can only assume that my constant threats to his company, his safety and his son's safety took their toll on Norman.  He must have decided to don the Goblin identity in an attempt to eliminate me and our common enemy: Spider-Man.  However, it has been months since Norman Osborn went missing.  I have no idea what's happened to Norman or where he is now.  But if he should EVER resurface again, I will have him dealt with, Goblin gear or not."
MY TAKE: Despite only fighting Spider-Man himself three times in season three, the Norman Osborn Green Goblin was my favorite villain on this show.  Voice actor Neil Ross did an excellent job with Norman and the Goblin, giving both such great separate voices that, at first, I thought it was a different actor voicing the Goblin until I saw him credited for both characters in the episode's cast list!  He was THAT good!  Here, the original Green Goblin was easily the best written villain on this series.  He was cold, evil and ruthless, and he was just as bad the first two seasons when he was just plain old Norman Osborn.  A lot of people complain that Osborn would never allow himself to be another pawn of the Kingpin's, but I didn't care.  He created the Hobgoblin and sent him after Kingpin in an attempt to be rid of him, he ordered Spencer Smythe to sick the Black Widow Spider-Slayer on Spider-Man, he tried to take over control of Adrian Toomes' company -- and that was before he ever donned the Goblin garb!  Story editor John Semper said he never intended to introduce Hobgoblin before the Green Goblin, but here, it worked brilliantly and it gave a neat twist to the history of the Green Goblin.  I also liked that Norman genuinely cared for his son Harry when he wasn't a loon tossing down pumpkin bombs, since too many adaptations have Norman ignore his son or he thinks of Harry as a weak loser.  Sure, it got a bit old in the first two seasons when Norman was constantly threatened by Kingpin, but when he attacked Kingpin as the Green Goblin in season three, it was nice to see Norman have some payback over the crime lord that tried to take away everything from him.  He even soundly defeated his predecessor, the Hobgoblin, with ease and nearly murdered him!  While Norman would be, unfortunately, banished into limbo in season three's finale, he would return to mentor his son when he became the new Green Goblin, since the two could communicate with each other through limbo.  I would've rather seen the Norman Goblin fight Spidey more, but at least he had a role later on in the show and wasn't forgotten like most characters on this show.  I can't give enough compliments and praise to the crew of this show for how excellent their Green Goblin was.  The Green Goblin has always been one of Spidey's greatest, deadliest foes in the comics, but on this show, he clearly was THE best.  Nobody can hold a candle - or a pumpkin bomb - to Norman's Green Goblin on this show.
 
 

JASON PHILIP MACENDALE/THE HOBGOBLIN

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 7 (6 as the Hobgoblin; 1 as an alternate reality Hobgoblin)
SEASON ONE - "The Hobgoblin, Part 1" and "The Hobgoblin, Part 2"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter 4: The Mutant Agenda" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter 5: Mutants' Revenge"
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XII: The Spot" and "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XIII: Goblin War!"
SEASON FIVE - "Spider-Wars, Part 1: I Really Really Hate Clones" (as an alternate reality Hobgoblin)
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "I've never cared for goblins, especially after the Hobgoblin entered my life.  The first time I met him, he had tried to fatally shoot me.  If Daily Bugle photographer Peter Parker hadn't pushed me out of the way, he would have succeeded.  The second time I met him, he had ratted out to me that his boss, Norman Osborn, hired him to kill me and that he wanted to work for me instead.  But that didn't last.  When Hobgoblin returned, I learned he had double-crossed me and I tried to terminate him.  He promptly counter-attacked with a new, larger glider that Norman had built for him and he chased me out of my own hideout!  Hobgoblin had even taken over my lair for a short time, but he was ultimately chased out and defeated by Spider-Man.  Ever since, the Hobgoblin has been both an ally and an enemy to me.  The last I saw him, he was working for me and he was chased out of my lair by his successor, the Green Goblin.  I had learned that the Green Goblin unmasked him as mercenary Jason Philip Macendale and tried to eliminate him.  However, Spider-Man intervened and Macendale was taken to prison.  It is only a matter of time before the Hobgoblin shows up again.  Whether he will still agree to work for me is up to him, and for his sake, he had best not try to defy me again."
MY TAKE: I love the Hobgoblin and I love actor Mark Hamill.  I mean, how can you not?  It's Luke Skywalker, people!!  I never thought that I'd hear Mr. Hamill voice the Hobgoblin, but when I first saw "The Hobgoblin" two-part story on TV, there he was, cackling with evil glee and Mr. Hamill did an excellent job voicing the character.  The Hobgoblin was easily the best villain of the first two seasons.  He was mysterious, he was dangerous, and he could either assist or assassinate you for simply the right amount of money given to him.  When Jason Philips popped up in season three and dated Felicia, that's when I really got excited.  I mean, since Jason was voiced by Mark Hamill, I knew we'd find out he was really Jason Philip Macendale, a.k.a. Hobgoblin, and I learned I was right later that season.  The only thing I didn't like, though, was Hobgoblin's sudden exit from this series.  It was as if that, after he had been defeated by the Green Goblin, his role on the show was done.  When he was taken to jail in the second-to-last episode in season three, he was never heard from or mentioned again.  He didn't even appear in season four, which would've made sense since Felicia Hardy became Black Cat and it would've been interesting to see Cat get revenge on her villainous ex-boyfriend.  Granted, we saw Hobgoblin in the first part of the two-part series finale, but it was an alternate reality Hobgoblin, not "our" Hobgoblin.  There was a lot that the show could have still done with the Hobgoblin, especially since he was a member of the Sinister Six in the Spider-Man comics, but regretfully, we never got the chance to see the "real " Hobgoblin appear in another episode after season three.  Still, at least the Hobgoblin had a number of great episodes to watch. 
 
 

HERBERT LANDON

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: Too many to count
KINGPIN'S TAKE: As the head of the Brand Corporation, Herbert Landon has always been a useful pawn to my criminal empire.  Landon had once promised me an army of genetically-altered mutants that would do anything I commanded.  However, I was disappointed to learn that Landon had no intention of delivering on his plans to create my army and had a hidden agenda to eliminate all mutants with his own experiments.  Landon was being blackmailed by the costumed cretin the Hobgoblin, who knew of Landon's true intentions, and he transferred all of Landon's research from his computer systems into a lone computer file.  In trying to get his file back, Landon fell into the chemicals he was using to eradicate mutants and the formula tranformed him into a creature that attempted to steal all of the electrical power from the city.  It was only due to the combined efforts of Spider-Man and a team of costumed mutants known as the X-Men that stopped Landon and reverted him into a half human, half mutant form.  Since then, with nowhere else to turn, Landon has replaced my traitorous ex-employee Alistair Smythe as my new lieutenant and has assisted me in expanding my criminal empire.  With Landon at my side, it is only a matter of time before all of New York is controlled by the Kingpin of Crime.
MY TAKE: Herbert Landon was one of the villains on this show that had a lot of potential, but the show didn't really do much with him.  Sure, Landon did have some accomplishments.  He did turn Alistair Smythe into the Ultimate Spider-Slayer, he gave the Chameleon a techno-organic virus to transform without his image-inducing belt, and he "improved" on the Super-Soldier Serum to transform Felicia Hardy into the Black Cat.  But considering Alistair Smythe and Black Cat quickly defected against the Kingpin and the Chameleon later betrayed the Kingpin, all of those accomplishments hurt the Kingpin more than they helped him, so everything Landon did for the Kingpin ultimately turned out to be nothing.  Why didn't we see Landon also help out Kingpin's loyal henchmen, like the Rhino or the Shocker?  He could've added armor to Rhino's suit or upgraded the Shocker's vibro-shock technology, since both characters worked for the Kingpin from season one onwards.  Also, whereas Smythe built his own Spider-Slayer robots, Landon had an entire corporation, but he wasn't actually shown using any of his own resources in helping the Kingpin.  And when Herbert Landon did take over as Kingpin's lieutenant, the chemistry between Landon and Kingpin was nowhere near as memorable, or well-written, as the scenes between Alistair Smythe and Kingpin.  However, there are some good aspects about the character.  The "Mutant Agenda" and "Mutants' Revenge" episodes with Landon are very well done, showing his past history with Dr. Henry McCoy/the Beast of the X-Men and trying to get out of being blackmailed by the Hobgoblin.  Also, overall awesome movie actor David Warner (whose credits include such films as 'The Omen', 'Time After Time', 'Tron', 'Waxwork', 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze', and a little movie you may have heard of called 'Titanic') did a wonderful job as the voice of Landon and he always did his best in every episode he was in.  If we'd gotten to see more of Landon using his own resources to do some accomplishments that actually helped Kingpin's empire, had Landon get more character development, and show more of Kingpin's interactions with Landon to make their scenes as memorable as the moments between Kingpin and Smythe, then things would've improved.  However, in the end, Landon was a good character, but he needed some more focus and better writing to become one of the series' greats.
 

EDDIE BROCK/VENOM

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 5 (4 as Venom; 1 as a robot)
SEASON ONE - "The Alien Costume, Part 2" and "The Alien Costume, Part 3"
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter X: Venom Returns" and "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XI: Carnage"
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter IX: The Haunting of Mary Jane Watson" (appears a Venom robot made by Mysterio, which breathes fire)
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "How I would have loved to have known Eddie Brock.  He was once an employee of the Daily Bugle, but was abruptly fired when he had unmasked a man in a Spider-Man costume on live television.  Thinking that college student Eugene 'Flash' Thompson was the real Spider-Man, he was proven wrong when the real Spider-Man saved Thompson from Spencer Smythe's Spider-Slayer.  Since then, Brock has hated Spider-Man and swore revenge.  He would get his chance to do so when he bonded with a strange symbiote that was once worn by Spider-Man himself and possessed all of the arachnid's powers.  Brock was separated from the symbiote by Spider-Man and sent it into outer space, while Brock was locked up in jail for months.  Though the symbiote returned to Earth and Brock became Venom once more, he exiled himself into an alternate dimension with his symbiotic 'son', Carnage, to save his love, psychiatrist Ashley Kafka.  If only Iron Man had not destroyed the dimensional portal that had banished Venom and Carnage.  I would have loved to have studied it and would have tried to bring Venom back... though in return, he'd have to work for me, of course.  Venom would be a valuable adversary to my empire, as I could've helped him get revenge upon Spider-Man.  While Stark Industries has since ceased their inter-dimensional gateway technology, I am still trying to discover the blueprints and replicate Stark's invention.  I have been unsuccessful, but will not be denied.  After all, NOTHING is inaccessible to the Kingpin." 
MY TAKE: Venom is one of those villains that so cool, so popular and had so much potential story-wise that you're amazed the show only had a handful of Venom episodes.  It was nice to see Eddie Brock work at the Daily Bugle as Peter's rival photographer, as it gave the two a history prior to Brock's firing and that was something not used in the comics.  In fact, Eddie Brock's back-story, history and reason for being fired as a newspaper reporter on this animated series is much better than the actual way that Eddie Brock became Venom in the comic books!  Once again, John Semper and company do something rare and improve upon an idea and/or story from the comic books the show was based upon.  Hank Azaria was also superb as the voice of Brock and Venom, playing both roles wonderfully.  Plus, Venom still hated J. Jonah Jameson after he was fired and he went after Jameson after he became Venom.  That was curious to me, as Jameson created Scorpion but Scorpion never went after Jameson after his debut episode, but Venom sure went after him.  The only real downsides I can think of were Eddie Brock's characterization in his two season three episodes and that Venom, like so many characters, was grossly under-used.  If you have someone as popular as Venom, you'd think they would give him more than three episodes where you actually see him fighting Spider-Man.  Sure, we saw a Venom robot made by Mysterio in season four, but we never saw Venom after he was banished into Dormammu's dimension in season three.  Too bad.  It would've been fun to see what would've happened next with our favorite symbiotic psychopath.  Speaking of symbiotes...
 
 
 
CLETUS KASADY/CARNAGE

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 4 (2 as Carnage; 1 as a robot; 1 as the Carnage symbiote)
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter X: Venom Returns" and "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XI: Carnage"
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter IX: The Haunting of Mary Jane Watson" (appears as a Carnage robot made by Mysterio, which has metal coils to capture intruders)
SEASON FIVE - "Spider-Wars, Part 1: I Really Really Hate Clones" (appearance of Carnage symbiote only, and the symbiote bonds with an alternate reality Spider-Man to become Spider-Carnage)
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Cletus Kasady is a well-known criminal and monster whose evil reputation makes even my stomach churn.  I had no need for Kasady in my organization, as I felt he would not have fit well in my fold and was too psychotic to control.  I was proven right when Kasady was in jail and he had bonded with a spawn from the Venom symbiote.  Calling himself Carnage, Kasady was like a mad dog that broke free from its leash, free to do whatever he wanted.  Carnage had agreed to work for Baron Mordo and his master, the supernatural being known as Dormammu.  Carnage even went out to collect the life-force of others in order to free their master, just to see what kind of horrors and destruction Dormammu would cause upon his release into our world.  Cletus was nearly successful, but was stopped by the combined forces of Spider-Man, Iron Man and, of all people, Venom.  As a result, all of the life-force Carnage had drained away was returned to the people he stole them from and he was banished into Dormammu's dimension, along with Venom and Dormammu himself.  Even with a powerful symbiote at his control, I would have not approached Kasady about joining me.  Still, he would have been a fascinating subject to capture and study.  Though Kasady is gone, I have no regrets about missing my chance to approach Carnage when he was in our world.  May Kasady rot in the very alien dimension he is now exiled to."
MY TAKE: Carnage and Venom were both huge in terms of popularity in the 1990s.  Unlike Venom, Carnage was more powerful and far more deadly.  However, he was also bat-guano insane and murdered people for fun.  Having a serial killer with an alien symbiote is a pretty hard character to translate on a children's Saturday morning cartoon show, but this show did a pretty good job with what they could do with Carnage in terms of evil deeds.  I mean, having someone drain away your life-force is a pretty scary and nasty thing and we sure saw Carnage drain plenty of people's life force.  One problem with Carnage was, again, he was grossly underused.  To be fair, we did have a Carnage robot Mysterio made in season four make a cameo appearance and then season five had the Carnage symbiote turn an alternate-reality Spidey into Spider-Carnage.  The other problem I had was that Carnage never got a solo episode all his own.  He was in the last few minutes of "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XI: Venom Returns" and got more focus in "Chapter XII: Carnage", but he was also with Venom most of the time.  Sure, Spidey fought him solo twice in "Carnage", but he's shortly after banished into an alien dimension when attacked by Venom, Iron Man and Spidey in that episode's finale.  Granted, it would've been hard to do more with Carnage, considering he IS a sociopathic serial killer.  Still, it's a shame Carnage never got an episode all his own.
 
 

THE CHAMELEON

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 12
SEASON ONE - "Day of the Chameleon"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I: The Insidious Six" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II: Battle of the Insidious Six"
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter VI: Framed" and "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter VII: The Man Without Fear"
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter II: The Cat" and "Partners in Danger, Part III: The Black Cat"
SEASON FIVE - The "Six Forgotten Warriors" five-parter
[NOTE: The Chameleon never speaks in his own voice on this show, as he will always be shown speaking when he is disguised as someone else.]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "The Chameleon is easily the best spy that you could have on your side, and I had worked with him several times over the years.  He was once a member of my Insidious Six and he even gave my son, Richard, vital information about the parents of Daily Bugle photographer Peter Parker when he assisted our plan to frame Parker.  Though he was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., the Chameleon still proved useful in captivity when he assisted us in breaking out his cellmate, Jonathan Hardeski, also known as the Cat, and I repaid his usefulness by having the rest of my Insidious Six break him out of custody.  However, the Chameleon had soon after betrayed me when it was revealed that he was not only working for the son of the Red Skull, Rheinholt Kragov, but was actually Kragov's step-brother.  Chameleon helped Kragov free the Red Skull from his captivity in a vortex and later assisted his step-father after Kragov had been turned into Electro and betrayed the Skull.  The Chameleon has since been returned to jail, while I learned that Kragov and the Red Skull were trapped in the vortex by Spider-Man.  It is only a matter of time before the Chameleon manages to sneak away again.  But no matter what disguise he chooses to take on next, he cannot hide from me.  I will soon have my revenge upon this traitorous reptile."
MY TAKE: So many Spider-Man villains were under-used on this series and so few were over-exposed.  The Chameleon falls into the latter category, and his numerous appearances didn't bother me that much since he was consistently well-written.  Even so, there were a few things about Chameleon that still irritated me.  Like the fact that Chameleon's comic book history with his half-brother, Kraven the Hunter, was not included on the show.  Or that for three seasons, nobody knew that it was really the Chameleon impersonating someone else, as he'd clearly always wear his image-inducing belt when he was in disguise.  All you had to do was look down at his belt buckle and his cover would have - and should have - been undone.  I also didn't like that the Chameleon was the step-son of the Red Skull and step-brother to the made-for-the-show character Kragov on this show.  Granted, the Red Skull and Chameleon have similar masks but with different colors, but come on!  That doesn't mean you'd have to make them related!  Still, Chameleon was, at least, a cool and dangerous character, and I thought it was neat we never heard the Chameleon speak in his own voice.  It made him more mysterious and cool, at least to me.  Still, it would've been nice to see Chameleon and Kraven together on this show at least once, even if they weren't related on this show.
 
 
 
DOCTOR OTTO OCTAVIUS/DOCTOR OCTOPUS

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 16 (15 in all as Doc Ock, 1 as a robot)
SEASON ONE - "Doctor Octopus: Armed and Dangerous"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I: The Insidious Six" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II: Battle of the Insidious Six"
CHAPTER THREE: "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter II: Make A Wish" and "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter III: Attack of the Octobot"
CHAPTER FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter II: The Cat" and "Partners in Danger, Chapter III: The Black Cat" (as Doc Ock); "Partners in Danger, Chapter IX: The Haunting of Mary Jane Watson" (appears as a Doc Ock robot made by Mysterio)
CHAPTER FIVE: The "Six Forgotten Warriors" five-parter and the "Secret Wars" three-parter
[NOTE: Efrem Zimbalist Jr. provides the voice of Doctor Octopus for 12 of the 15 episodes that use the real Doc Ock. The three episodes where Doc Ock doesn't speak in are "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter III: The Secrets of the Six", "Secret Wars, Chapter I: Arrival" and "Secret Wars, Chapter III: Doom"]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "The first time I met Doctor Otto Octavius face to face, I had my then-associate Alistair Smythe break him and five other super-powered criminals out of prison.  I had assembled them all together to become the founding members of my Insidious Six team.  Right from the start, I knew there was something special about him that I could use to my advantage.  He originally declined my offer to join the Six, stating that he wasn't a 'petty hireling', but a scientist.  I quickly told him that in exchange for helping his teammates destroy Spider-Man, I could provide him with the finest laboratories and with unlimited resources to work with.  Once he agreed, I knew I was right.  Octavius truly was a rare recruit of mine: not a common crook, but a scientific genius.  In addition to having the mind of a brilliant scientist, Octavius also has four metal tentacles at his mental command, each one capable of lifting a bus and punching a hole in a brick wall.  If he had not joined my ranks, he could have proven to be a formidable enemy and would've ultimately been crushed by my order.  Fortunately for him, that day hasn't come... yet.  Nearly every super-powered henchman I've hired has betrayed me at one time or another, and Octavius certainly is no exception. Eventually, when those who defy me see the futility in opposing me, they usually come back to my employ.  Octavius, however, has not aligned with me since the second Insidious Six team disbanded, and he has recently pursued his own goals solo again.  With such a clever mind and four metal limbs at his mental control, it could only be a matter of time before Doctor Octopus outlives his usefulness to me."
MY TAKE: For a guy with "Terminator" sunglasses, a bowl-cut hairdo and an odd color coordination choice by donning a green-and-orange costume, Doctor Octopus still proves to be one of Spider-Man's greatest foes.  In fact, old Doc Ock has always been my favorite of Spider-Man's enemies, even more-so than the Green Goblin or Venom.  When I first saw Doc Ock in season one, despite the odd Germanic accent that voice actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr. gave him (after all, Ock WAS born and raised in New York in the comic books), he was everything I hoped for and more.  He was clever, cruel and extremely dangerous.  In fact, his fights with Spider-Man in his debut episode were perhaps the best fights we'd ever seen on the entire run of the animated series!  Despite the accent, though, Zimbalist did an excellent job as the voice for Doc Ock and was one of the best voice actors of the series.  But the best aspect that the show gave to Doc Ock was his not-in-the-comics mentor/student relationship with Peter Parker himself!  Every time the two were seen together, whether as Peter talking to Ock or Spider-Man fighting with Ock, it was written well and always fun to watch.  When Doc Ock returned as a member of the Insidious Six in season two, I loved how he was handled just as much as his debut episode.  I would've preferred it that Ock had formed the Six instead of the Kingpin, but once he was with his teammates, it was clear Ock was in charge and I loved it.  Even his mentor relationship with Peter was acknowledged in the two Insidious Six episodes and the scenes between Peter and Ock were pure brilliance.  But sadly, once Doctor Octopus popped up in season three as another common henchman for the Kingpin, we lost the Peter/Ock past history and chemistry that was done so brilliantly, and Doc Ock became just another villain in a brightly-colored costume for Spider-Man to fight with.  One of Doc Ock's worst and humiliating moments came in season three's "Attack of the Octobot" when Ock was defeated by his own Octobot when Spidey's biggest fan, a young girl named Taina, donned his Octobot's mind-control headband.  Yes, that's right -- Doc Ock was defeated by a little girl!  Never mind the fact he was dumb enough to take off the headband that mentally-controlled his Octobot, but he never tried to remove the Octobot's tentacle with his own four tentacles.  Since Ock was only held with two tentacles and had four bonded to his spine and at at his command, you're telling me that being restrained with two Octobot tentacles was enough to stop him?  Doc Ock also got to pester Anastasia Hardy and kidnap Felicia Hardy for the Kingpin during his appearances in season four, but even then he had a supporting role and the character was simply wasted in those episodes.  During his time in season five, he rejoined the Insidious Six and even took part in the "Secret Wars" story-arc, but it simply wasn't enough.  The damage had been done and, sadly, Ock just wasn't a threat anymore.  Once the Kingpin got a hold of him, Doc Ock wasn't as interesting as a character and lacked both any history with Peter and memorable fights with Spider-Man - at least, compared to his episodes in seasons one and two.  If only Doc Ock had been plotting to destroy Spider-Man on his own without being a stooge for the Kingpin, and even get some more Peter/Ock scenes for good measure, that would've been something.  If we got some more Spidey/Doc Ock fights as exciting, memorable and wonderfully animated as season one, that'd be icing on the cake.  It's just a shame that my favorite Spider-Man villain got three brilliant episodes in the first two seasons, and then from seasons three to five, Doctor Octopus was simply mishandled and got so many crummy episodes to pop up in.  If Doc Ock had been as well-written from season three on like he had been in the first two seasons, he'd easily be in the show's top five best villains and, in my opinion, THE best villain on this show.  But as the show went on, too many disappointing episodes, missed opportunities and downright embarrassing moments with Doctor Octopus keep him from being one of the best villains this show had to offer.  Simply put, Otto Octavius deserved better.
 
 
 
MAC GARGAN/THE SCORPION

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 11
SEASON ONE - "Sting of the Scorpion"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I: The Insidious Six", "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II: Battle of the Insidious Six" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XIV: The Final Nightmare"
CHAPTER FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter V: Partners"
CHAPTER FIVE: "The Wedding" and the "Six Forgotten Warriors" five-parter
[NOTE: The Scorpion doesn't speak at all in "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter V: The Price of Heroism".]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Formerly a private investigator, Mac Gargan was later transformed into the Scorpion by Professor Farley Stillwell in order to track down and defeat Spider-Man.  But when he learned he had become a freak, Scorpion lost what was left of his sanity and he abducted Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson.  He nearly destroyed all of New York with radiation in an attempt to cure himself, but he was stopped by Spider-Man.  With his strength and speed greater than that of Spider-Man himself, I had my then-associate Alistair Smythe break him out of jail along with five of Spider-Man's most troublesome enemies to become the members of my Insidious Six.  Scorpion was happy to join my group and said he'd kill for the chance to work for me, but his friction with teammate Doctor Octopus allowed Spider-Man to pit them against the other as he escaped.  After the Six disbanded, Scorpion went off on his own, fell for a woman named Sarah, and he even worked with my rival Silvermane for a time.  That didn't last long, as Scorpion was shortly after back in my employ and back as a member of the Insidious Six.  The Six were defeated again and the team disbanded once I was hospitalized by the Red Skull's bothersome son, Kragov, whom the Skull had turned into Electro.  Scorpion remains a close ally and valuable henchman in my employ.  I'm sure he'll be back to bother Spider-Man soon enough, but when he does, he'll be doing it under my orders."
MY TAKE: Don't get me wrong.  Scorpion is one of my favorite Spider-Man villains ever and he was great early on in the series.  Unfortunately, while so many villains were under-exposed on this show, Scorpion was one of the select few who became over-exposed, and not for the better.  When Scorpion came back in season four, that was pretty all right, since he just wanted to be normal again and was engaged to a woman named Sarah.  But then came season five and old Scorpy just wasn't the same.  Not only was his girlfriend never seen again, he popped up a whopping six times in season five and he wasn't really given much to do.  There are only so many times you can see Scorpion swing his tail and spray acid at someone.  Plus, he wasn't even really needed in season five.  If he's trying to be cured, why is he still seen as a lackey for the Kingpin and why doesn't he mention he wants to be normal again?  What's worse, the show dropped the ball with the Scorpion/J. Jonah Jameson angle!  In the comics, the Scorpion blames Jameson for ruining his life and he hates Jonah just as much as he hates Spider-Man.  After his debut episode in season one, Gargan didn't even try to go after Jameson again or seek revenge on him after he helped turn him into the Scorpion.  Don't you think he'd still be upset with Jameson for helping turn him into a super-powered villain and ruining his life?  I mean, even Venom went after Jameson later in the series because Jameson had fired Brock from the Bugle!  Twice!  So why is it that Scorpion didn't go after Jameson again?  As Jameson's creation, he had a much better reason for hating Jameson than Venom's reason of unemployment.  As a side note, the show never explains some flaws with "The Sting of the Scorpion" in season one.  In that episode, Scorpion was getting bigger/more muscular, had a lime green tinge to his skin and pale orange eyes as a result of the neogenic experiment that turned him into the Scorpion.  In "The Insidious Six" season premiere episode of season two, Gargan not only had his normal body size, skin and eyes again, but he's also suddenly out of his Scorpion costume!  Exactly how did that happen?  If he looks normal again and is trying to be cured of being the Scorpion, then why does he put the suit and mechanical tail back on and gleefully work for the Kingpin by becoming a member of the Indisious Six?  Then there's Scorpion's voice actor replacement.  While I love actor Richard Moll (it's Bull from "Night Court", people!) and he was a worthy successor to the late, great Martin Landau as the voice of Scorpion, to be perfectly honest, I prefer the voice that Landau gave him.  Besides, the episodes where Scorpion are voiced by Mr. Landau are some of the best-written episodes of this series, while every episode where Mr. Moll voiced Scorpion were not as well written in comparison, which really is a shame.  If Scorpion had been seen less on this show and acknowledged he wanted revenge on Jameson as well as Spidey, he'd easily be one of the best villains of this show.  Instead, he's one of the few villains on this show who started off cool, but then got over-exposed and wasn't handled as well as when he started off in the first two seasons.
 
 
 
THE RHINO 

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 10 (9 as the Rhino, 1 as a robot created by Mysterio)
SEASON ONE - "The Alien Costume, Part 1" and "The Alien Costume, Part 3"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I: The Insidious Six" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II: Battle of the Insidious Six"
CHAPTER FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter IX: The Haunting of Mary Jane Watson" (appears as a Rhino robot made by Mysterio)
CHAPTER FIVE: The "Six Forgotten Warriors" five-parter
[NOTE: Don Stark only does the voice of the Rhino for the first three chapters of the "Six Forgotten Warriors", but not the other two. Richard Moll provides the voice of Rhino for his only line of dialogue in "Chapter IV: The Six Fight Again", but the Rhino doesn't speak at all in "Chapter V: The Price of Heroism".]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Much about the Rhino is unknown and I intend to keep it that way.  Ever since he had bonded to the very suit that gives him his superhuman strength and durability, the Rhino has been one of my most loyal henchmen.  While Rhino is not the most clever individual on his own, fortunately he has my keen intellect and guidance to do the thinking for him.  The Rhino first proved his usefulness to me by beating Spider-Man and easily retrieving the fissionable element known as Prometheum-X from the space shuttle of astronaut John Jameson for me.  Though he was soon afterwards stopped by Spider-Man, he soon after tried to defeat the arachnid again with the assistance of my other henchman Shocker.  Unfortunately, the interference of the creature Venom prevented them from destroying Spider-Man and they were sent to jail.  Since then, I had used the Rhino to join my team, the Insidious Six, in an attempt to be rid of Spider-Man forever.  The team failed and the Rhino was driven underground after the team disbanded.  He would be forced to lie low for many months, but I would have him join the Insidious Six once more on several assignments.  Among his tasks upon rejoining the Six were breaking out his teammate the Chameleon from S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters itself and collecting the miniature statue keys to the Red Skull's Doomsday compound.  However, the Chameleon betrayed the Insidious Six, captured us, and he helped free his step-father, the Nazi war criminal the Red Skull, from a space-time vortex he had been trapped in for fifty years.  Upon getting free, the Six and I had to actually assist Spider-Man and the Six American Warriors defeat the Skull's robots!  But though we helped defeat the robots, the Skull returned and revealed he had turned his son into Electro, who electrocuted me when I tried to attack him and then he defeated the Insidious Six and American Six single-handedly.  The Six disbanded and went their separate ways.  However, given his loyalty to me, I am sure that I can track down the Rhino again and get him to do another job for me."
MY TAKE: In the comics, Rhino is a Russian immigrant named Aleksei Sytsevich, he dons a Rhino costume and he is bombarded by radiation that gives him superhuman strength, durability and stamina.  His suit also makes him highly impervious to most fatal attacks and extreme temperatures.  Sadly, none of this is ever said on this show.  He's just a super-strong dope in a rhinoceros costume who does what Kingpin tells him to do.  Although to be fair, the Rhino's real name was an unrevealed mystery in the comic books at the time this animated series aired on TV.  Here, the Rhino is just a nameless thug with no back-story other than the fact he works for the Kingpin.  It is a bit disappointing that we never got an origin-of-Rhino flashback, especially since this show was notorious for using them in too many episodes.  But at least an origin flashback would've had a purpose and would've required the animators to provide actual new animation to explain how and why the Rhino got his suit and powers.  Not to sound mean, but if you can show past clips over and over, surely showing a new flashback clip wouldn't have been too bad, right?  Getting to the point, I actually like what little they did with the Rhino here.  He was a strong foe for Spidey to fight with and he surprisingly worked well as Kingpin's henchman.  Most of the time it bothered me when a villain would start off solo and later be Kingpin's stooge, but it didn't matter much to me, probably because here the Rhino always was Kingpin's thug.  Also, Don Stark did a great, great job voicing the character, and I actually think he's possibly one of the best voice actors on this Spider-Man animated series.  Sure, Rhino wasn't the best foe Spidey had on this animated series, but he had one of the best voices on the entire series and the Rhino was handled fairly well in terms of writing.  Unfortunately, writing is also what the main problem was with Rhino on this show.  Rhino was on the show for nine episodes, but even so, he didn't really get to do much when he returned in season five's "Six Forgotten Warriors" episodes.  To make matters worse, we actually had to wait two full seasons in order to see Rhino again, as he never had an appearance in seasons three or four.  Doc Ock and Chameleon got multiple episodes in both mentioned seasons, and even Shocker got to co-star in one episode of season four, but Rhino was left out for two full seasons?  Ugh.  Though Rhino would be given much better treatment on "The Spectacular Spider-Man" in terms of back-story and being written in his multiple episode appearances, this is still a great incarnation of Rhino.  While not the best interpretation of the character, I still would've liked to have seen more of the Rhino on this show and simply wish he had been handled better by the writers.
 
 

THE SHOCKER

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 10
SEASON ONE - "The Alien Costume, Part 2" and "The Alien Costume, Part 3"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I: The Insidious Six" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II: Battle of the Insidious Six"
CHAPTER FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter VI: The Awakening"
CHAPTER FIVE: The "Six Forgotten Warriors" five-parter
[NOTE: The Shocker only speaks in "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter II: Unclaimed Legacy", but not the other four "S.F.W." episodes]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Herman Schultz has been a loyal henchman of mine ever since he donned the guise of Shocker.  Previously known as a skilled burglar and one of the best safe-crackers in the country, it was Alistair Smythe who recommended that Schultz be the one to don the vibro-shock gauntlets and become the Shocker.  He was first sent to retrieve the photos that ex-Daily Bugle photographer Eddie Brock took of the space shuttle crash on the George Washington Bridge, but the presence of Spider-Man kept him from getting what he wanted and the web-swinger stole the very Prometheum-X we had taken from the shuttle.  Shocker would later take part in helping Alistair get the Prometheum-X back from Spider-Man, in exchange for the life of astronaut John Jameson.  Despite the interference of a vengeful Brock, Spider-Man managed to stop the Shocker.  Shocker later tried again to destroy Spider-Man by assisting my other henchman Rhino, but both were defeated when the symbiotic lunatic Venom interfered with their attack and both of my men were taken into custody.  As one of my more loyal henchmen, I had sent Shocker out on assignments for me many times, such as joining the Insidious Six team on two different locations and assisting Herbert Landon in retrieving Michael Morbius, the living vampire.  Though the Insidious Six disbanded after their teammate Chameleon betrayed them and they were defeated at the hands of the Red Skull's son Electro, it is only a matter of time before I call back Shocker to do another job for me."
MY TAKE: Now this is another character where I can't praise the show enough for doing such an excellent job.  Honestly, the Shocker was one of the best villains this show ever had and had one of the truly great voices of this series.  Voice actor Jim Cummings, whose credits include everything from Pete in "A Goofy Movie" and even the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh", does a fabulous job as the voice of Shocker and I can't say enough on how good a job he does here.  Unfortunately, some of what happened with Shocker left a lot to be desired.  First of all, why did we never see Shocker unmasked as Herman Schultz?  We never even hear him get called by his real name.  He's simply known as "Shocker".  Even when he was in his Ravencroft jail cell in season two's " The Insidious Six", he's wearing prison clothes, but he is also still wearing his yellow costume and mask!  What's with that?  Secondly, I never did like that Alistair Smythe invented the vibro-shock gauntlets Shocker uses rather than Shocker himself.  In the comics, Shocker invented the wrist-worn gauntlets that project a concentrated blast of compressed air that vibrates at a high frequency.  Because the blasts are so powerful, Shocker makes the very yellow quilt-patched suit he wears to protect himself from the blasts and it absorbs the vibrational shock.  On this show, he is simply given both by Smythe.  In Shocker's debut episode, "The Alien Costume, Part II", Smythe had already developed both the suit and the gauntlets and Smythe himself says he has "the perfect man to use them".  You know, it would've been nice to see Shocker invent something for himself instead of having Smythe just give them over to him, especially since it's implied that Smythe knew Schultz as a friend before he even became Shocker.  Why else would he just give some thug a costume and shock gauntlets unless he knew he could trust him?  Fans of this show that Alistair Smythe never trusted anyone, so why was Shocker the lone exception of that rule to Smythe?  It would've been nice to see a friendship between Alistair Smythe and Shocker, even a few scenes worth, and show why Smythe actually trusted him.  Aside from these two complaints, they're pretty minor when you think about it.  Shocker is a surprisingly effective foe for Spider-Man on this show, as he comes close to defeating Spider-Man on his own.  Unlike most of the guest villains on this show, he is always handled very well in every episode he's in, never being wasted or unnecessarily used for the sake of being used.  Shocker, like Rhino, is also one of the few villains who starts off working for the Kingpin and it isn't irritating to me.  Having almost every villain on this show eventually work for the Kingpin was tiring and often pointless, but in Shocker's case, it worked just fine.  Even though he popped up in a whopping ten episodes on this show, for some reason, Shocker's multiple appearances never bugged me, mainly because he was consistently well-written.  This is clearly the best incarnation of the Shocker ever done, and I don't mean just on an animated series.  Sure, the Shocker's cool in the comic books and the characters was handled pretty well on other Spidey series that followed, like "The Spectacular Spider-Man", even though I don't care for the fact he was actually the Enforcer member Montana on that series.  But this show has the best take on the character Shocker, period.
 
 
 
ADRIAN TOOMES/THE VULTURE
Vulture as an old man

 
Vulture as a young man


NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 9
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XII: Ravages of Time" (cameo apperanace as Adrian Toomes), "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XIII: Shriek of the Vulture" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XIV: The Final Nightmare"
CHAPTER FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter V: Partners"
CHAPTER FIVE: The "Six Forgotten Warriors" five-parter
[NOTE: The Vulture doesn't speak in "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter IV: The Six Fight Again" and "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter V: The Price of Heroism"]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Adrian Toomes was a brilliant inventor and the head of his company, Toomes Aerodynamics.  Toomes even used his wealth to buy the Tablet of Time tablet from the crime lord Hammerhead.  However, he was also a business rival of Norman Osborn and, to his chagrin, Osborn was trying to get control of Toomes Aerodynamics away from Adrian.  Osborn believed that the elderly Toomes was too feeble to run his own company and planned to merge Toomes Aerodynamics with his own company, OsCorp.  Wanting revenge, Toomes donned a flight suit he invented and sought revenge on Osborn as the Vulture.  After thoroughly studying the Tablet, Toomes was able to use its technology in his gloves to absorb the youth of anyone he grabbed with the talons.  His plans, including his attempt to destroy Norman Osborn, were thwarted by Spider-Man, and he was even able to drain away the youth of the meddlesome arachnid.  He later teamed up with the Scorpion to have Empire Statue University's neogenics experts, Dr. Curt Connors and Professor Farley Stillwell, because both wanted to be cured.  The Scorpion abducted Stillwell and brought him to E.S.U. to be cured of his super-powers, while the Vulture wanted Connors to be rid of Spider-Man's mutation disease, which he had accidentally absorbed when he took the hero's youth.  However, when Spider-Man arrived, Connors was able to let the Vulture give the wall-crawler back his youth, but was tricked into keeping his mutation disease.  A fight followed shortly after between Spider-Man, the Scorpion and the mysterious Lizard creature that had appeared in the lab.  Stillwell used the opportunity to destroy the Neogenic Recombinator device and everyone managed to escape the explosion in opposite directions.  The Scorpion found Vulture and held him captive for a time, with Toomes shifting from his old self to his youthful self uncontrollably.  When Scorpion's girlfriend Sarah learned he had been abducted and held in a neogenics lab by Silvermane and his new lackey, Alistair Smythe, Sarah freed the Vulture so he could save him and get a closer look at the technology.  Spider-Man was also a captive, and Silvermane intended to transfer the web-spinner's youth in his exchange for his current state.  Upon learning of the lab's equipment, Vulture was able to substitute himself for Spider-Man and he permanently regained his youth, leaving Silvermane an elderly man once more.  Since then, I had the Vulture take the place of the late Mysterio on my Insidious Six team, but we were betrayed by the Chameleon and defeated by the Red Skull's son, Electro.  Vulture has gone his separate ways from me since the Six disbanded, but it's only a matter of time before he resurfaces again."
MY TAKE: The Vulture was a pretty interesting character at first and I rather liked his appearances in season two.  However, I've never been a big fan of the "youthful"-looking Vulture and I was disappointed that this was the main version they used on the show.  Whereas Eddie Albert did a great job as the elderly Vulture, when Alan Johnson did the voice of the young Vulture, he was more annoying than menacing.  I also was, and remain, confused as heck that the Vulture never turned back into the Man-Spider after his season two appearances.  After wasting fourteen episodes on Spidey's mutation disease, we never got a real ending to that aspect after the Vulture accidentally got it instead and Vulture would change back and forth from old to young in substitution.  That made zero sense to me.  What happened to the Man-Spider form?  Some closure would've been nice.  Anyway, getting back to the Vulture.  I liked his appearance in season four, but I didn't like him as a member of the Insidious Six in season five.  Never mind that he substituted for one of my favorite Spidey enemies Mysterio, who was abruptly killed off on this cartoon series.  But although the Vulture is a real member of the Sinister Six team from the Spider-Man comics, he just didn't work here as an Insidious Six member.  He had a gun that fired lasers and would far-too-easily slice Spider-Man's web-rope in half every other time while Spidey was in mid-swing.  If we got more of Vulture in his elderly self rather than his old self, maybe it wouldn't bug me so much.  But while Vulture is an awesome villain in the comics, we just didn't see him do that much on this show.
 
 
 
QUENTIN BECK/MYSTERIO

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 4
SEASON ONE - "The Menace of Mysterio"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I: The Insidious Six" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II: Battle of the Insidious Six"
CHAPTER FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter IX: The Haunting of Mary Jane Watson"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "An ex-special effects maestro and stuntman, Quentin Beck was one of the more clever inventors I've been fortunate enough to have in my employ.  When he blamed Spider-Man for ruining his career and throwing him into jail, he tried to exact his revenge as Mysterio and framing Spider-Man.  When Spider-Man defeated Beck and cleared his name, I managed to have my then-associate, Alistair Smythe, break him out of prison with five of Spider-Man's worst enemies to meet with me.  I offered him a place in my team, the Insidious Six, along with five of Spider-Man's greatest enemies, but even the Six couldn't defeat the wall-crawler.  The last time I met Mysterio, he was trying to get the advanced technology I had left over when Smythe left my employ, but I told him he had to destroy Spider-Man in return.  Since then, Beck perished in an explosion in the catacombs beneath Wonder Studios caused by the woman he loved and was thought dead, actress Miranda Wilson.  Because of his death, I have since had to replace Mysterio with the Vulture in my Insidious Six.  It is a shame to lose a henchman like Mysterio, whose clever mind and illusions were valuable assets to me.  However, no one is irreplaceable to the Kingpin."
MY TAKE: I love Mysterio.  I really have to give the show heavy praise and kudos for doing such a wonderful job with Mysterio in this series.  To me, he was one of the best villains that this show had to offer and his debut episode is easily one of the series' best.  That in itself is a pretty impressive feat, considering Mysterio was only in (unfortunately) four episodes of this animated series.  Though I didn't like the blond, ponytail hair-do that they gave Beck on this show and I missed his usual black bowl-cut hairstyle from the comic books, I thought that Mysterio was cool, clever and a great opponent for old Spidey.  From his illusions that were frighteningly realistic to the androids he used to fight against Spidey, Mysterio proved you didn't need powers to be a worthy opponent.  It didn't hurt that this show actually took Mysterio seriously and took away the hammy factor that most Spidey cartoons and comic book writers usually give Mysterio.  Just because a guy has a fishbowl for a head, it doesn't mean he isn't dangerous.  Voice actor Gregg Berger also gave Mysterio one of the best voices on the show, though curiously Mysterio's metallic-sounding voice in season one was left out of his later appearances.  The sole major flaw with Mysterio wasn't one of the character, but of the writers.  Season two starts to drop the ball with Mysterio with his "Insidious Six" appearances.  He starts off well enough in the breakout from Ravencroft sequence in part one, when he makes the villains disappear from being spotted by the prison guards.  Once he becomes an Insidious Six member, though, Mysterio does nothing.  And I mean literally nothing.  He creates an illusion of a train coming at Spider-Man in part 1, but for part 2, Mysterio disguises himself as a plant to avoid Aunt May seeing him when she visits Peter in a clinic room (yes, really), Peter steals some of Mysterio's holo-cubes to use against the Six so he can run off and change into his Spider-Man costume, and he runs around a building with his Insidious Six teammates to find Silvermane and Spider-Man.  Mysterio does not throw a punch, use his laser gloves, or do anything at all to actually fight Spider-Man in the "Insidious Six" episodes and it makes a man of his many talents incredibly ineffective.  In fact, he's just left in the building with his teammates. While Spidey deals with five of the Insidious Six members when he tricks Rhino into going after Chameleon, defeats Shocker by tossing him in a water tower and making him ditch his suit before jumping out, and finally pits Scorpion and Doc Ock against each other, Mysterio is forgotten about and not dealt with or defeated at all.  He's just... there.  And then at the end of part two, everyone eventually goes their separate ways when Spidey and Silvermane get away.  Um... okay.  Why was Mysterio not allowed to do anything in the Insidious Six episodes?  It's very disappointing when the Chameleon gets to do more than Mysterio does as a member of the Insidious Six and you could tell it was Chameleon in disguise just by looking down at his belt!  What's worse, not only did the crew of this show leave Mysterio out entirely from appearing in season three, they actually killed him off in his lone return appearance in season four and the writers let him stay dead afterwards!  What?!?  Granted, Mysterio could have survived, as we never actually saw him stay in the catacombs when the explosions went off.  But since he said that he was staying behind with his half-cyborg love interest Miranda Wilson (don't ask, trust me), it's unlikely he survived.  Sure, Mysterio was replaced with Vulture in season five, but I didn't think that Vulture was as cool or as well-written on this show as Mysterio was.  Also, Mysterio had a better variety of ways for attacking Spidey, from his robotics and illusions to his laser gloves.  Sadly, Mysterio is another perfect example of how a cool, well-written villain can get under-used as the series progressed.  Where's the love for the Master of Illusion, people?!?
 
 
 
SERGEI KRAVINOFF/KRAVEN THE HUNTER

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 4
SEASON ONE - "Kraven the Hunter"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter VI: Morbius" (cameo appearance) and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter VIII: Duel of the Hunters"
CHAPTER FOUR: "Partners in Danger, Chapter IV: The Return of Kraven"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Sergei Kravinoff started off as a normal hunter in the jungles of Africa.  He was badly wounded while saving his fiancé, Dr. Mariah Crawford, from a pack of lions and she had given a special wonder drug she obtained from a colleague in order to save her love's life.  Sergei recovered quickly, discovering the drug had given him the ability to track people down by their scents and he had become stronger and faster than before.  However, his sanity was also affected and Kraven was acting more and more like one of the very beasts he hunted.  Calling himself Kraven the Hunter, Sergei tracked and easily beat the animals he hunted.  His behavior scared Mariah so much that she fled to America to come up with an antidote to cure Sergei's condition.  When Kraven confronted her, Spider-Man interferred and Kraven ultimately escaped.  Believing Mariah was with another man, he tracked Mariah down to the home of Daily Bugle employee Joe Robertson, where Spider-Man had hidden her.  Mariah left to continue her work before Kraven arrived, but he abducted Robbie and tracked down Spider-Man in order to exchange Robbie for Mariah.  Spider-Man tracked Kraven down and saved Robbie, when Mariah arrived with the antidote.  Saving her from one of his own traps he set for Spider-Man, Kraven was wounded, but saved when Mariah game him the antidote.  After that, Kraven became an ally to Spider-Man, helping to restore him to his human form when he had somehow mutated into a monstrous Man-Spider.  With the aid of Dr. Crawford and the wanted vigilante known as the Punisher, they were successful.  After that, when Crawford became ill, Kraven gave her the same drug she used on him to cure her of a deadly plague.  She had mutated into the she-beast known as Calypso and overpowered the cured Sergei.  He was able to steal a sample of the same drug from the Hardy Foundation and he took the drug in order to become Kraven again and went to track her down.  With the help of Spider-Man and the Black Cat, Kraven was able to restore Mariah's sanity with an antidote the Cat had obtained, but they were unable to cure her of her new powers.  However, while Dr. Crawford herself could cure herself, she did not want to change back to her normal self and told an understanding Kraven that now they were truly kindred spirits.  Kraven vowed to stay by her side always, and they ran off to be together.  Their current whereabouts are still unknown and it is unclear if the Hardy Foundation has a sample of the wonder drug in their possession.  But should I ever find a sample of it, I'm sure that I could find a way to alter it and use the drug for my own purposes."
MY TAKE: This version of Kraven was pretty good and he was especially entertaining in the first two seasons of the show.  His design was good, he was a nice threat in his debut episode, and Kraven worked just as well in his appearance in "Duel of the Hunters" when he tracked down Man-Spider and had great chemistry with the Punisher.  Sadly, his role in season four was lacking for me.  I didn't want Kraven to run of into the sunset with Mariah as Calypso, because a.) Kraven had only been a villain for one episode and still had plenty of good stories that could've been told with him on the show, b.) Kraven had already left with Mariah to have their Happily Ever After twice before, and c.) I really, REALLY disliked the Mariah Crawford version of Calypso.  Also, this was season four we're talking about here, and that season had plenty of bad episodes ("Partners", anybody?).  Kraven's episode may have been tolerable, but it was still disappointing and unneeded.  After his departure in season two, I thought it was a nice way to end Kraven's storyline.  But having him run away with Calypso and then never hearing from either character again is just baffling.  What happened to them?  Granted, both Kraven and Calypso were killed off in the comics, so that was clearly not going to happen on a children's Saturday morning cartoon series, but that's hardly an explanation.  Another aspect I disliked, as mentioned with Chameleon, is that his rich history with the Chameleon from the comic books was never explored.  The two are half-brothers, for crying out loud!  How could their history NOT be touched upon in this cartoon series?  These guys never even met once on this show.  What a shame.
 
 
DR. CURT CONNORS/THE LIZARD

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 8
SEASON ONE - "Night of the Lizard"
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XI: Tablet of Time", "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XII: Ravages of Time", and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XIV: The Final Nightmare"
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter X: The Lizard King"
SEASON FIVE - The "Secret Wars" 3-parter
[NOTE: The Lizard doesn't speak in the three episodes of season two]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "It is unclear to many who this creature is, where it came from, or what is responsible for its creation.  I, however, am not fooled.  I know that this Lizard creature must be Dr. Curt Connors, scientist and teacher at Empire State University.  When Alistair Smythe sent one of his Spider-Slayer robots to capture Dr. Connors so he could study the Tablet of Time, Smythe lost Connors and the Lizard suddenly attacked the Slayer and Spider-Man before escaping.  Later, the Lizard returned and fought with Silvermane after he had exposed himself to the Tablet.  When Silvermane continuously grew younger until he had become a baby, Connors was nowhere to be found and only returned after the Lizard had vanished.  Finally, when Scorpion and the Vulture wanted assistance from Connors and Professor Farley Stillwell, Stillwell tried to destroy the Neogenic Recombinator and the Lizard appeared.  He fought with the Scorpion and Spider-Man, only to disappear when the Recombinator exploded and the lab was destroyed.  It is simply too coincidental that Connors would be absent whenever the Lizard emerged and have it NOT be him.  While I know the truth, I dare not act upon my suspicion.  I've seen how the Lizard acts and is simply too primal and uncontrollable to try to bring into my employ.  No matter.  I shall leave Connors alone, as he's no direct threat to me.  But should the Lizard return and interfere with my plans, if he proves to be a threat, I will deal with him.  I may not destroy Curt Connors the man, but the monstrous Lizard is an entirely different matter." 
MY TAKE: I love the Lizard.  I really do.  I also like Dr. Connors just as much.  Lizard was a good, formidable enemy for Spidey to fight with, but Connors was also just as much fun to watch whenever he assists Spider-Man whenever he needs something analyzed or an antidote created for a problem.  The only REAL problem with the Lizard on this show was that he got some really disappointing episodes.  In season one, he was a GREAT adversary, with his lashing tail and superior strength and speed used against our lovable web-spinner.  After some good season two appearances, the Lizard just wasn't as cool anymore when the hit-and-miss fourth season came along.  "The Lizard King" was a pretty dull episode, focusing more on the Lizard being the accidental "father" to new lizard creatures and fighting with Spidey in a gladiator-type arena in the sewers.  Uh-huh.  Next, he appeared in "Secret Wars" in season five, and he took over for The Incredible Hulk in the monster-who-is-a-hero role when Mr. Fantastic was able to have Curt Connors' mind be dominant when he was in the Lizard's body.  But that didn't sit well for me, as the Hulk is my second favorite Marvel hero after Spider-Man and I really, REALLY wish that Marvel had been able to use the Hulk on this Spider-Man cartoon before the Hulk got his own U.P.N. animated series.  I mean, seeing the Lizard fighting alongside the heroes in "Secret Wars" was just odd, especially since he was supposed to be one of the few villains on that storyline.  Still, at least the Lizard got to appear in a respectable eight episodes and Connors didn't thankfully fade into the background when the show went on, unlike, unfortunately, too many supporting characters this show had to offer.  And I do have to give this show kudos for Joe Campanella's wonderful voice for both Connors and the Lizard, as he was one of the best actors this show had.
 
 
 
LONNIE LINCOLN/TOMBSTONE

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 4
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XI: Tablet of Time" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XII: Ravages of Time"
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter IX: Tombstone"
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter I: Guilty"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: Coming Soon
MY TAKE: Coming Soon
 
 
 
SILVERMANE

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 5
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I: The Insidious Six", "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II: Battle of the Insidious Six", "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XI: Tablet of Time", and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XII: Ravages of Time"
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter V: Partners"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: Coming Soon
MY TAKE: Coming Soon
 
 
 
HAMMERHEAD

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 4
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter I - The Insidious Six", "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter II - Battle of the Insidious Six", "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XI: Tablet of Time" and "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter XII: Ravages of Time"
[NOTE: Hammerhead doesn't speak at all in "Chapter I: The Insidious Six"]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: Coming Soon
MY TAKE: Coming Soon
 
 

HARRY OSBORN/THE SECOND GREEN GOBLIN

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 2 (as the second Green Goblin)
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter VIII: Return of the Green Goblin"
SEASON FIVE - "The Wedding"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "Although I have encountered both the Hobgoblin and the Green Goblin, the most curious of them all is that of the second Green Goblin, young Harold Osborn.  In all of the months that I had Norman Osborn under my employ, I was always, naturally, successful in keeping Osborn under my control by threatening his son to get what I wanted from Norman.  When Norman Osborn suddenly vanished and Harry was revealed to be the second Green Goblin, I have since some to the conclusion that it must have been Norman who was the original, true Green Goblin and that young Harry took over his father's identity in order to destroy the man he felt was responsible for Norman's disappearance - Spider-Man.  Harry has used the Green Goblin identity twice, most recently working with rival crime lord Silvermane and my former lieutenant Alistair Smythe in an attempt to ruin Peter Parker's wedding and make his ex-girlfriend Mary Jane Watson his own bride!  He might have succeeded if not for the intervention of Liz Allan, who revealed she was in love with Harry and had convinced him to return to Ravencroft to continue his therapy.  Young Harry's emotional state has shown he is too weak to pose a credible threat to me, for the moment.  But I will continue to monitor Harry's treatment and make sure the Green Goblin identity stays abandoned.  As the Kingpin, I take all potential threats seriously."
MY TAKE: Harry Osborn was a good character on the show for the most part.  We got to see him start off as Flash Thompson's best friend, he shortly after became friends and roommates with Peter Parker, and would date Peter's ex Mary Jane Watson, all just like in the comics.  Unfortunately, the series didn't really do a whole lot with Harry before he became the Green Goblin.  He was only Peter's roommate for two episodes of season one and then again for only five episodes of season four (though that wasn't shown on screen for season four's "The Awakening" episode), and we never got to see Peter and Harry really hang out as friends or see their friendship fully develop and grow.  Of what we did see of Harry, he's seen dating Mary Jane to make Peter's life more complicated.  After Mary Jane breaks up with him, Harry spends most of his screen time bickering with Peter about stealing Mary Jane away from him.  Then, when Harry does become the Green Goblin -- oy, did the show drop the ball on this one.  If you've read the great comic book stories that writers like J.M. DeMatteis did with Harry as the Goblin, that's not represented in this show at all.  Harry spends most of his time in "The Return of the Green Goblin" being able to somehow talk to his father/the original Green Goblin in limbo and, having zero fighting skills, is fairly easily taken out of the fight by being tackled by Spider-Man or shot at by the Punisher's laser pistols.  Then in "The Wedding", he has his new ally Alistair Smythe make him an army of Goblin robots to crash the wedding of Peter and Mary Jane, tries to wed Mary Jane himself, and even threatens to blow up everyone present when Spider-Man arrives.  It's only when Mary Jane's best friend Liz Allan shows up and reveals she loves Harry does he revert back to sanity and agrees to have her take him back to Ravencroft.  The main problem with this scene is that the show dropped the ball so badly on the Liz and Harry friendship/romance, that this reveal is jarring and doesn't work.  Throughout the show, the viewers have had no scenes with Harry and Liz together on-screen before "The Wedding" episode, no scenes of the two talking to each other, and, aside from a few throw-away lines from Liz like having always felt sorry for Harry in season three's "Turning Point" episode, there is no explanation given as to why Liz loves Harry, how they met or long she's known him.  So we can see the flashback of Mary Jane being gone in limbo over and over again in season four to haunt Spider-Man, but we can't get a thirty second sequence showing Liz hanging out Harry and trying to cheer him up?  In fact, in "The Return of the Green Goblin", it's Liz, not his best friend and roommate Peter, who suggests they surprise Harry with a late-night pizza to cheer him up after Peter's sulking to Liz about not getting over Mary Jane being gone for good.  It shows not only how unexpected Liz's moment of glory convincing Harry to stand down in "The Wedding" episode is, it shows how terrible and non-existent a friend that Peter actually has been to Harry.  Sure, Peter keeps getting called away to be Spider-Man, but not showing any scenes of Peter spending time as friends with Harry during the entire series is extremely disappointing.  Though I may sound like a broken record when I write this, I'll say it again -- like so many other characters on this brilliant show, Harry Osborn deserved better.

 
 
 
MORRIE BENCH/HYDRO-MAN

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 3 (1 as Hydro-Man; 2 as a clone of the real Hydro-Man)
SEASON TWO - "Neogenic Nightmare, Chapter III: Hydro-Man" (only appearance of the real Hydro-Man)
SEASON FIVE - "The Return of Hydro-Man, Part 1" and "The Return of Hydro-Man, Part 2" (as a clone of Hydro-Man)
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "I first discovered of Hydro-Man's presence when he caused a five-hundred-foot geyser to emerge in Washington Square with just a thought, just to impress his ex-girlfriend Mary Jane Watson.  Having a man with such incredible powers would make a worthy addition to my empire, so I proceeded to search for him.  Alas, I learned that Hydro Man had evaporated during his last encounter with Spider-Man.  I recently became aware of Hydro-Man's return after he abducted Mary Jane, who had now wed Spider-Man's photographer friend Peter Parker, but neither of them have been seen for some time.  I do not know what has happened to Hydro-Man, but should he show up again, I will do whatever I can to try and bring him into my organization.  I have big plans in mind for Hydro-Man."
MY TAKE: Well, Hydro-Man was actually one of the best villains that this show had to offer and that's pretty impressive since the "real" Hydro-Man is only on the show for one episode.  I liked that he was an ex-boyfriend of Mary Jane's who didn't get that while he loved her, she didn't feel the same way about him.  He was also one of the more powerful foes that Spidey had on this series and his debut episode in season two is not only one of the best from that season, but also one of the best episodes of the entire series.  The only problem I had with Hydro-Man was that the real McCoy was only seen once in his debut episode of season two and then we got a Hydro-Man clone for two episodes of season five.  The two-part "The Return of Hydro-Man" episodes from season five are, in my opinion, the two worst episodes of this series ever.  Yep, you read right - I think they're WORSE than season three's most fan-hated episodes "Rocket Racer" and "The Spot", and that's saying something!  I would have rather seen the real Hydro-Man return, especially since Spidey himself said that just because Hydro-Man evaporated, it didn't necessarily mean he was dead.  There was so much left you could do with the character.  Hydro-Man could've easily turned up alive in season four and attack Spider-Man, blaming him for Mary Jane's disappearance.  Or, the series could have Hydro-Man either join the Insidious Six or there could be an episode or two adapting the Sinister Syndicate (or, in Fox Kids', the Insidious Syndicate).  Regretfully, Hydro-Man is another one of the many villains on this animated series that was so cool and so well done, you wish the real McCoy had been used for more as the show went on.
 
 
 
THE RED SKULL

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 7
SEASON FOUR - "Partners in Danger, Chapter II: The Cat"
SEASON FIVE - The "Six Forgotten Warriors" 5-parter and the "Secret Wars" 3-parter
[NOTES: The Red Skull was voiced by David Warner, not Earl Boen, in season four's "The Cat" episode.  The Red Skull does not appear in "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter I" or "Chapter II: Unclaimed Legacy".  The Red Skull also only speaks in the second part of the "Secret Wars" 3-parter, "The Gauntlet of the Red Skull".]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "When I first met the Red Skull, it was in a secret hideout in the Bronx in New York.  My Insidious Six warriors, my enemy Spider-Man, the remaining Six American Warriors and I had all been taken prisoner by the Skull's son Rheinholt Kragov and my ex-henchman, the Chameleon.  We all discovered that Kragov was actually Chameleon's step-brother and we watched as Kragov had his captive, Dr. Gretzek, free his father from the energy vortex so they could be reunited.  The doctor then freed the vortex's other captive, Captain America, when the trio weren't looking and the resulting battle freed us all.  We were able to attack the Skull and his family, but shortly after, the Skull had transformed his son Kragov into the energy-controlling Electro.  My attempts to attack Electro left me injured and I was taken to the hospital to recover.  I never saw the Skull or Kragov again and I discovered Electro, Red Skull and Captain America were trapped in the vortex and Skull's hideout was destroyed by the remaining American Six.  Though it is doubtful the Skull will ever return, if ever he does manage to somehow escape the vortex by another device, he had best not run into me... for his sake."
MY TAKE: The Red Skull was a very good villain on this show.  Though I didn't care for the "Six Forgotten Warriors" episodes, I did love what this show did with the Skull's characterization.  Wonderfully voiced by Earl Boen, we got to see Red Skull at his finest: cruel, intelligent, and one step ahead of those around him.  He may have appeared six times in season five, but I didn't mind.  He was cool and handled so well, I actually wanted to see more of the Skull, which is a rare honor for me to say such a thing.  Sure, I complain, I nitpick, but when I praise, it's worth mentioning, and this show's take on the Red Skull was truly something special.  Kudos, John Semper and company!
 
 
 
RHEINHOLT KRAGOV/ELECTRO

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 3 (2 as Kragov, 1 as Electro)
SEASON FIVE
(AS KRAGOV) - "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter 2: Unclaimed Legacy" and "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter 4: The Six Fight Again"
(AS ELECTRO) - "Six Forgotten Warriors, Chapter 5: The Price of Heroism"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: "For years, the Red Skull's young son, Rheinholt, dedicated his life to searching for a way of which to free his father from a stasis vortex.  He took a job in Russia as the Chief of Police under the alias Rheinholt Kragov, while secretly substituting as the second Red Skull in his father's absence.  I first became aware of Kragov when he had the paid mercenary Silver Sable and her Wild Pack team capture me, my Insidious Six, and our common enemy Spider-Man.  He tried to gain access to a box I had obtained with information leading to the Red Skull's Doomsday weapon he had made during World War II in the 1940s, but I managed to keep him from keeping it when my men and I broke free.  Kragov got away, Spider-Man was freed and he helped get the Wild Pack outside.  Upon getting outside with my Six, we learned we were in Chernobyl and had been safely shielded from its radiation while inside Kragov's underground hideout.  We all split up before the radiation there could poison us and I used the information to gain access to the Doomsday complex with six statuettes that substituted as entry keys.  The Chameleon betrayed the Six and I, and we learned he was in fact Kragov's step-brother.  Together, they had their captive, Dr. Gretzek, free the true Red Skull from the vortex and the three celebrated their reunion.  But while the villains were distracted, Gretzek freed the legendary World War II superhero Captain America from the vortex as well and my men and I were freed during the fight.  I instructed my remaining Insidious Six to help Spider-Man, Captain America and his teammates to stop Kragov, the Chameleon and the Red Skull.  However, the Red Sull managed to escape with Kragov to a secret laboratory and he transformed his son into Electro, a being capable of storing electrical energy in his body and wielding it as a weapon.  Electro had electrocuted me with his power when I tried to grab him and he single-handedly defeated the Insidious Six, Captain America and his American Six warriors.  When Electro betrayed his father soon afterwards, he tried to make himself the self-appointed ruler of the world and even destroyed all of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in battle with their Helecarrier.  After learning that Spider-Man and Captain America had activated the vortex, Captain America and the Skull again became trapped in the vortex and Electro dueled with Spider-Man after he had defeated the Chameleon.  Electro was finally tricked into destroying the vortex's controls by Spider-Man and he became trapped in the vortex himself.  Kragov has been trapped ever since, but the Skull had the right idea by creating a soldier that could absorb electrical energy and use it as a weapon.  Perhaps one day, there may be another Electro... one I could finally control."
MY TAKE: If you saw the Best and Worst section of this web site, you'll know that I really, REALLY hated this incarnation of Electro.  No offense to Story Editor/Producer John Semper, who also wrote the "Six Forgotten Warriors" episodes that Kragov/Electro appeared in, but I just didn't care for this version of Electro.  Gone is American lineman Max Dillon, who turns to a life of crime after being struck by lightning while working on a power line.  Here, we get made-for-TV character Rheinholt Kragov, the son of the original Red Skull.  And believe me, it's just plain weird to say that Electro is the son of the Red Skull on this show, especially since Kragov isn't an interesting character or credible threat before he gains his powers.  Also, with no disrespect to voice actor Phil Proctor, but the voice of Kragov/Electro was just lousy, with a cringe-worthy accent and annoying villainous laugh.  Sure, when he became Electro, Kragov managed to toss the American AND Insidious Six team members around in an electric tornado, electrocuted the Kingpin bad enough to send him into an ambulance to get medical attention, and destroyed the S.H.I.E.L.D. base as mentioned.  But so what?  Not only do we get a lone appearance by Electro on this show, it's not even Max Dillon!  It's a made for TV character.  Sure, Jim Cameron's planned "Spider-Man" film kept the Sandman and Electro from appearing on the show until the movie went into limbo, but why have him be the Red Skull's son?  Also, I hated that S.H.I.E.L.D. was destroyed.  It was one of the cooler locations on "Spider-Man".  And no offense, but the Kragov Electro is not only an egomaniac, he's also just plain dumb.  Here's my proof: He is TRICKED into defeat by Spider-Man when he destroys the vortex's controls and then he's trapped in the vortex forever?  And he destroys the controls simply because he wanted to prove to Spider-Man that he was more powerful than the vortex?  WHAT?!?  I waited four parts of a mediocre story line to see Electro vanish in the very episode he made his debut in?  Anyone with the god-like electrical powers that Electro possessed wouldn't bother destroying a control panel of the vortex just to prove a point when he was about to have TOTAL CONTROL OVER THE ENTIRE WORLD TURNED OVER TO HIM!!!  You've GOT to be kidding me!  Also, not once does anyone ever think of using water as a means to slow down or defeat Electro.  It worked in the comic books.  A lot.  So why didn't anyone think to break out a fire hose to spray Electro, or get Electro alone and set off some sprinklers to get him with?  The Kragov Electro is easily the worst original character that this TV series had introduced, and personally, I'll remain forever disappointed that we didn't get the REAL Electro on this show.
 
 
 
JONATHAN OHN/THE SPOT 

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 2
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter XII: The Spot"
SEASON FIVE - "Spider-Wars, Part I: I Really, Really Hate Clones" (alternate reality Jonathan Ohn)
KINGPIN'S TAKE: Coming Soon
MY TAKE:  Coming Soon
 
 
 
JACKSON WEELE/BIG WHEEL

 
Big Wheel's pilot, Jackson Weele

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES:
SEASON THREE - "Sins of the Fathers, Chapter V: Rocket Racer"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: Coming Soon
MY TAKE: Coming Soon
 
 
 
VICTOR VON DOOM/DOCTOR DOOM

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 2
SEASON FIVE - "Secret Wars, Chapter I: Arrival" and "Secret Wars, Chapter III: Doom"
[NOTE: Doctor Doom only speaks in "Chapter III: Doom"]
KINGPIN'S TAKE: Coming Soon
MY TAKE: Coming Soon
 
 

SPIDER-CARNAGE

NUMBER OF APPEARANCES: 2
SEASON FIVE - "Spider-Wars, Part 1: I Really, Really Hate Clones" and "Spider-Wars, Part 2: Farewell, Spider-Man"
KINGPIN'S TAKE: Coming Soon
MY TAKE: Coming Soon
 
 
 
 
 

More Characters, Complete Character Profiles, and Images Coming Soon
 
 
 
 
 
Last Updated 12/18/2019

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