2026 is the year of Spider-Man villains breaking a long trend, and it is perfect when so many of them appear in new releases. Spider-Man and Batman are the two comic book characters with the best villains. The Marvel and DC heroes have so many iconic foes, including the likes of Green Goblin, the Joker, Doc Ock, the Riddler, Electro, Bane, and more.
To that end, given how there have been several Spider-Man movies and Batman films over the years, many of those villains have already made their way to live-action projects. Focusing solely on the Marvel side of things, Tom Holland’s MCU Spider-Man franchise will now begin what could be its second trilogy, which is an impressive feat that allows even more villains to appear.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s cast is already confirmed to feature a slew of Marvel Comics villains, including the Hand, Boomerang, Tarantula, Scorpion, and Tombstone. That said, the upcoming Spider-Man movie is not the Marvel hero’s only live-action appearance in 2026, as another version of Spider-Man has already led his own project, and it features many exciting villains.
Nicolas Cage debuted as Ben Reilly, who is not connected to the actor’s take on Spider-Man Noir in the animated Spider-Verse movies, on Prime Video’s Spider-Noir. The Marvel hero faced many villains, such as Sandman and Silvermane. While that is something every live-action Spider-Man appearance includes, Spider-Noir managed to end on a surprising note that starts a new era for Spider-Man villains.
Spider-Noir Mostly Does Away With Tragic Villain Endings
In Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies, most of the villains who show up onscreen have had tragic endings. Those include major deaths, such as Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin being killed by his own glider after an emotional fight with Maguire’s Spider-Man, Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock sacrificing himself to destroy his unstable fusion reactor, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio framing Peter Parker for his death and revealing he was Spider-Man to the world, and more. That also connects to villains like Michael Keaton’s Vulture going to prison and his family learning he was a bad guy.
In Spider-Noir, this tragic trend for Spider-Man villains mostly ends. Sure, the truly evil characters, like Silvermane and Megawatt, end their time on season 1 in dark ways. However, the characters with tragic backstories, namely Tombstone and Sandman, as well as the morally grey Cat Hardy, all have happy endings. Sandman and Tombstone are cured of the mutations that were killing them, with the latter also free to live his happily ever after with Cat now that Silvermane is out of the picture. Multiple villains get happy endings in Spider-Noir, which does not usually happen in live-action Spider-Man stories.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Could Repeat Spider-Noir’s Villain Change
After Spider-Noir, it seems like Spider-Man: Brand New Day will continue that new era for the Marvel villains through a surprising foe. Stranger Things‘ Sadie Sink is reportedly playing the X-Men’s Jean Grey in the 2026 MCU movie. That said, her face was not seen in the first Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer, though she was teased to be an antagonist of sorts, mind-controlling people to do her bidding and being behind the rampant tank seen in the trailer. If Jean Grey ends up being one of Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s “villains,” then the setup is easy.
Instead of having a tragic ending, the film would serve to establish Jean in the MCU before she gets to appear in Avengers: Secret Wars, which Sink is reportedly in, and the MCU X-Men movie. No matter how much Spider-Man: Brand New Day tries to paint her as a villain in trailers, it is clear that if Sink is truly playing Jean Grey, then the character will end the Marvel movie as an ally to Holland’s Spider-Man. This would continue Spider-Noir‘s trend of happy endings for Spider-Man villains.