Without a doubt, Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day was a massive success, breaking the record for the highest-grossing film in North America of all time. As such, conversations about the MCU’s inevitable fifth Spider-Man movie are reportedly underway. With that in mind, one has to wonder who might serve as the film’s primary villain.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day was rather unique in the way that its primary antagonist was a future hero with Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey. While several other villains were featured like Scorpion, Tombstone, Boomerang, Tarantula, and more classic foes, most were either supporting roles in the case of Scorpion and The Hand, or basic cameos, having been briefly featured in the movie’s opening montage showing Spider-Man’s exploits in New York since the events of No Way Home.

Keeping that in mind, it does seem like Spider-Man 5 has more than enough room for a true big bad debut. As such, there’s more than a few solid choices, seeing how Spider-Man has one of the biggest rogues’ galleries of all time. In no particular order, here are 12 of our favorite villain picks for Spider-Man 5.

Kingpin

Without a doubt, Wilson Fisk is probably one of Spider-Man’s most obvious potential future villains, and one of the most asked for by fans, especially after Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin was re-established in the MCU in 2021’s Hawkeye.

Following future roles in Echo and Daredevil: Born Again, it would be all kinds of exciting if Fisk were made the big bad of Spider-Man 5. After all, Brand New Day confirmed that Spider-Man had been taking on various factions of New York’s organized crime, and Born Again’s first season saw Fisk calling out Spider-Man as a dangerous vigilante alongside Daredevil and Punisher.

Naturally, a confrontation with Kingpin in the MCU would hopefully involve Daredevil himself, especially after Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock served as Peter’s lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Combined with Spider-Man’s team-up with The Punisher in Brand New Day, it just makes sense to see all three New York vigilantes finally work together (with Kingpin as the perfect catalyst).

Venom

While the MCU has already teased Venom via Eddie Brock’s brief appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Hardy’s version of the Lethal Protector still hasn’t had a proper interaction with the MCU’s Spider-Man. Likewise, Hardy’s future as Venom is very much a big question mark now that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe of films outside the MCU is very much over, with Sony looking to start from scratch with hopefully more successful projects.

Regardless, the opportunity to have Venom and Spider-Man fight on the big-screen is a massive opportunity that should be taken advantage of in the future. Seeing as how a piece of the Venom symbiote was left behind in the MCU, there’s already a perfect vehicle to debut a new Venom (without fully abandoning the legacy of Sony’s Venom trilogy). Likewise, Avengers: Secret Wars is also on the way, and the 1984 Secret Wars comics event is where Peter Parker first encountered the Venom symbiote, taking it back home to Earth as his new black suit. As such, perhaps something similar could happen in the MCU?

Mister Negative

Following his rising popularity thanks to his key role in Sony’s Spider-Man games for the PlayStation 5, Martin Li’s Mister Negative would be an excellent way to introduce a villain the MCU has never touched. Having the dual identity of a philanthropist and criminal mastermind, Mister Negative could be a fascinating enemy with a complicated moral background. His power set is also incredibly unique and would be visually stunning on the big screen (while still being a fairly grounded crime boss).

Green Goblin

On the one hand, the MCU already featured one of the very best Spider-Man villains with Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the version of the villain originally from the universe of director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. While he was the Goblin of Maguire’s Spider-Man first, he very much became a key nemesis of Tom Holland’s after killing Aunt May in No Way Home (with Peter nearly killing Osborn by the movie’s end).

However, it can be argued that there’s still room for a Green Goblin native to the MCU, one who could be a different kind of threat to Holland’s Webslinger. Case in point, Harry Osborn’s Green Goblin could be a very interesting route, especially if he starts as Peter’s friend.

Tombstone

Lonnie Lincoln may not have the same name recognition as villains like Green Goblin or Venom, but that’s precisely why Tombstone could work so well. Another New York crime boss possessing impressive strength and durability, Tombstone was one of the several villains featured in Brand New Day’s opening montage, played by Marvin Jones III. However, Tombstone could easily have a much bigger spotlight in a future Spider-Man movie. There’s so much that could be explored with Lonnie and his history (while also keeping Spider-Man 5 grounded and more street-level like Brand New Day).

Black Cat

Although Black Cat is technically more of an antihero than a traditional Spider-Man villain, Felicia Hardy still deserves a place in the conversation, especially considering how long Sony has been trying to get her on the big screen. Seeing as how Peter Parker’s relationship with Mary Jane is now in questionable territory post-Brand New Day, the time does feel right to perhaps introduce Felicia’s Black Cat as a new foe/potential conflicting love interest.

Not only could a Spider-Man/Black Cat relationship provide a whole new kind of romantic chemistry that hasn’t been explored before with Holland’s Webslinger, but it would also be fascinating to see an evolution where Felicia either goes from ally to foe, or vice versa.

Morlun

If Marvel wants to go in a much stranger direction, Morlun could be one of the MCU’s most interesting choices for Spider-Man 5. A multiversal predator seeking to feed on the life forces of those who exist across various realities as “Spider-Totems”, Morlun is a true energy vampire and one of the most powerful foes Spider-Man has ever faced in the comics. On the one hand, Morlun could simply hunt Peter Parker in Earth-616 while keeping the story fairly grounded and non-multiversal. On the other, he’d be an easy villain to help kickstart an even bigger multiversal story with Spider variants than we saw in No Way Home.

However, Marvel Studios and Sony would need to be pretty careful with this concept, as it could easily feel repetitive following the third Spider-Man movie. It’d have to go much bigger, like featuring visits to other realities (though the animated Spider-Verse movies pretty much have that covered). Combined with expectations that the MCU is winding down multiversal stories after Secret Wars, it might make more sense to keep the focus on Morlun and Earth-616’s Spider-Man alone.

Jackal

Miles Warren, aka The Jackal is perhaps the most obvious choice if Marvel ever wants to adapt parts of the infamous Clone Saga storyline. There have been recent reports of a potential Clone Saga series from Sony and Prime Video centered on the clones of Spider-Man created by Warren known as Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, though it supposedly hasn’t been greenlit just yet. In the chance that it falls through, perhaps elements of the story could be pivoted for Spider-Man 5, featuring the Jackal’s dark work with genetic replication. If done well, it could be pretty cool to see one or two Scarlet Spiders in the MCU.

Doctor Octopus

The return of Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus was one of the biggest highlights of No Way Home, who also came from the Sam Raimi universe. Despite being redeemed after Holland’s Peter helped restore Otto Octavius’ mind, it can be argued that the MCU could still debut its own Doc Ock in the future.

Like Green Goblin, he’d just have to be more distinct, like perhaps focusing more on Otto’s massive ego and pride from the comics, believing himself to be “superior” to everyone around him. There could even be set-up for the classic Superior Spider-Man storyline from the comics where Otto takes over Spider-Man’s body. Whatever the case may be, there are ways to make a new Doc Ock feel unique in the MCU.

Kraven the Hunter

Although Kraven the Hunter is one of Spider-Man’s most iconic comic-book enemies, Sony’s live-action Kraven the Hunter movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson has admittedly complicated his future on screen. However, there is still potential in a properly realized Kraven who is actually focused on Spider-Man, though there’d probably have to be a different actor playing Kraven who starts from scratch.

Seeing Spider-Man as the ultimate prey, it would be awesome to see some sort of loose adaptation of Kraven’s Last Hunt, which is arguably his most famous story. The personal obsession behind the hunt could easily make Kraven one of the most memorable live-action Spider-Man villains he’s always deserved to be.