6 Old-School Marvel Villains Spider-Man Should Fight In Prime Video's Live-Action Show

Spider-Noir may be based on fairly recent additions to Marvel lore, but that doesn't mean we won't be seeing some classic characters and storylines from the 1960s, the 1970s, and the 1980s make their way to the small screen.

Starring Nicolas Cage as an older, grizzled take on Scarlet Spider a.k.a Ben Reilly, Prime Video's upcoming series is expected to feature a mix of Spider-Man characters, both old and new.

The Spider-Noir trailer and other marketing material have confirmed a long list of interesting names involved in the show's eight-episode story. It will feature noir-inspired interpretations of Black Cat, Sandman, Electro, Tombstone, Molten Man, Slivemane, and possibly Molten Man and Mister Negative too.

All of the aforementioned Spider-Man villains, with the sole exception of Mister Negative, are old-school members of Spider-Man's rogues' gallery, whose histories with the wallcrawler date back to the 1980s - or much further, in a few cases. And a few have never been properly translated to live-action.

Looking at all the characters who are already in hand, not to mention the notion that a full character lineup won't be known until the series releases, it's worth wondering who else might cross paths with Ben Reilly in 1930s New York City.

6 White Dragon

A fun, throwback villain that Spider-Noir could utilize is White Dragon, the costumed leader of a Chinatown gang that Spider-Man first battled in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #184 in 1978. White Dragon's primary weapon was an ancient Chinese mask that could shoot beams of fire.

As a show with the tone and style akin to a 1940s film noir or old pulp fiction novel, it wouldn't be surprising at all if Spider-Noir decides to have one of Ben Reilly's cases as a private eye take him to 1930s Chinatown. If that happens, that would be a prime opportunity to introduce the Dragon Lords, the infamous gang led by White Dragon in Marvel Comics.

With characters like Tombstone, Silvermane, and presumably Mister Negative present in the story, gang wars look to be integral to the goings-on in Spider-Noir. To that end, the series may look to build a fully-realized criminal underworld, complete with gangs that represent all different corners of organized crime in New York City.

A perfect way to do that is to bring in the Dragon Lords and White Dragon, who may be among the power players at odds with Silvermane in the series.

5 The Enforcers

Other characters who deserve to be part of Spider-Noir's criminal underworld are the Enforcers, a trio of hired thugs Spider-Man has been fighting since they were hired by The Big Man in The Amazing Spider-Man #10 in 1964. Each member has its own skillset: Fancy Dan is the martial artist, Montana is the cowboy with the lasso, and Ox is the muscle.

With their colorful outfits and stereotyped persona, the Enforcers are a perfect representation of the era in comics they originate from, but could easily be reworked to fit into a darker and edgier universe. After all, all three have Spider-Man Noir counterparts, who serve Norman Osborn.

As for what Spider-Noir might do with them, Montana, Ox, and Fancy Dan could all be introduced as gangsters who did the dirty work of Silvermane. When Ben Reilly inevitably runs afoul of Silvermane, the Enforcers could be dispatched to deal with them. Alternatively, he may have to help someone else who has the Enforcers on their tail.

4 Kangaroo

Not all of the Spider-Man villains appearing in Spider-Noir need to have deep ties to the criminal underworld, as evidenced by the inclusion of Sandman and Electro. Many could be reimagined to fit into its world, with one such example being Kangaroo.

Frank Oliver a.k.a. Kangaroo was an Australian martial artist whose close study of kangaroos helped develop spectacular strength in his legs. Following his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #70, Kangaroo became a recurring antagonist before finally being killed off and replaced with a new Kangaroo in the 1990s.

His origin story may be in need of an update if Frank Oliver's story is told in live-action, but concept-wise, Kangaroo could could certainly work in a show like Spider-Noir. It's easy to imagine a Spider-Noir version of Kangaroo as an Australian immigrant who fell on hard times during his time in New York City, and in turn, has begun using exceptional kicking skills to make money as a gang enforcer.

While we do know he'll have his hands full with threats like Molten Man and Sandman, it's unlikely that all of the cases that Ben Reilly investigates will pertain to super-powered individuals. A face-off with Kangaroo could function as an intriguing diversion from that approach.

3 Grizzly

A character belonging in a similar category as Kangaroo is Grizzly, a villain who debuted in 1974's The Amazing Spider-Man #139. Max Markham boasts an origin story that's not entirely different to that of the Rhino and the Scorpion, as he had a bear-like exoskeleton grafted to his body so that he could do battle with Spider-Man.

But what sets Grizzly apart from Rhino and the Scorpion is the direction his life has taken. Grizzly has long been perceived as a failed supervillain, with his membership in the Legion of Losers serving as Marvel's own recognition of his ineptitude and the ridicule he's endured over the years.

Interestingly, Grizzly isn't inherently evil or completely committed to his craft; in fact, he's even let Spider-Man go and tried his hand at crime-fighting on occasion, meaning that he's had his turns as a villain, a hero, and an anti-hero.

Since Nicolas Cage's take on Ben Reilly is a private detective hero whose heyday as a superhero is apparently behind him, it's possible that, true to his comic book roots, Grizzly could be introduced as a former enemy of his, one that has since settled down due to the struggles he had as a villain and repeated defeats at the hero's hands.

2 Carrion

Multiple theories postulate that Spider-Man's name change in Spider-Noir is a lot more complicated than just distancing him from Peter Parker. In Marvel Comics, Ben Reilly is the alter ego of Scarlet Spider, a clone of the real Peter Parker. Years after he was created by the Jackal, he became a superhero in his own right.

Since the show has chosen that particular name for its iteration of Spider-Man, it may be that Nicolas Cage is actually playing a Spider-Man clone. That's not unfeasible, not after the Spider-Noir trailer showed off a grotesquely disfigured person presumably played by Cage. This shot may be a tease to the cloning process.

If Spider-Noir is truly jumping into Marvel's Clone Saga, that will open the door for everything that comes with it, and that could include Carrion. Carrion is a clone not of Spider-Man, but of the Jackal, the villain who set all this in motion in the first place. As a partially deterriorated being, Carrion has a scary, almost zombie-like appearance that could work brilliantly in the dark atmosphere of Spider-Noir.

1 Hammerhead

Out of all the Marvel Comics crime bosses that could appear in Spider-Noir, none would fit into the show's setting more organically than Hammerhead. Debuting in 1972's The Amazing Spider-Man #113, Hammerhead is a mobster with an abnormally shaped - and extremely hard - head, and one that actually makes for an effective weapon in combat against Spider-Man.

But Hammerhead's role power comes from the influence he wields in the criminal underworld. After fighting a gang war with Doctor Octopus that Spider-Man wound up wading into, Hammerhead became a recurring character in crime-related storylines, often clashing with the likes of Spider-Man and Daredevil.

In the case of Spider-Noir specifically, he'd make a lot of sense, especially when taking the setting into consideration. In the comic books, it's understood that as a consequence of a bout with amnesia, Hammerhead dresses and talks like a 1920s gangster, which he picked up from a poster about an Al Capone movie.

With Spider-Noir set in a time when Hammerhead's mannerisms and appearance are more appropriate than they are even in the time period of the source material itself, Hammerhead showing up in Spider-Noir feels like a no-brainer.