Top 10 Spider-Man Characters That Still Need Marvel Legends

We’re a little over 20 days away from Toy Fair 2019 in New York, and our little nerd hearts have already begun to dream about what new Marvel Legends might be revealed. With the new Spider-Man: Far From Home movie hitting this year, that means we’re going to be seeing a lot of new Spidey-centric Marvel Legends waves… so let the wishful thinking commence!

10. CARRION

*Time to sculpt that “saggy diaper that leaks” torso, Hasbro.*

First appearing in Spectacular Spider-Man #25, Carrion is a character introduced in a sequel story to the original clone story with Miles Warren, aka the Jackal. With a convoluted origin that only became more confusing the more writers that tried to add layers or remove them, Carrion was revealed to be a decaying clone of Professor Warren that blamed Spider-Man for the death of Gwen Stacy, whom he had an inappropriate obsession with. He was ultimately smothered with a giant spider-amoeba he had created to kill Peter Parker (don’t ask) and would have been forgotten had he not had the foresight to leave several viral booby-traps around the ESU campus. One such genetic timebomb would transform punchable-faced student Malcolm McBride into the new Carrion.

The Malcolm McBride version of Carrion is probably most famously known for his part in the Maximum Carnage crossover, and having the sort of face you just want to throw a pumpkin bomb into.

9. SCARECROW

*“I’m actually highly allergic to burlap. But I had some crows and a lot of straw, and well… you’ve got to commit to the bit.”*

“But wait,” I hear you say, “Isn’t the Scarecrow a Batman villain?” And if you mean the far more interesting and well-known version of a villainous Scarecrow, you’d be right. But let’s put Professor Jonathan Crane asside for a moment and talk about ol’ Ebenezer Laughton here.

*Name a kid “Ebenezer” and he’s going to get so many wedgies on the playground, he’ll grow up to be a super-villain every time.*

Oddly enough. Laughton, an escape artist and contortionist, started out as an Iron Man villain… because when you think of the types of enemies a billionaire industrialist playboy like Tony Stark would make, a skeevy circus performer is definitely toward the top of the list. (Maybe Tony Stark helped PETA put Laughton’s circus out of business with false propaganda, the way they did Barnum and Bailey.) Scarecrow bounced around from hero to hero like a ring rat at an indie wrestling show, facing off against Captain America, Ghost Rider, and Spider-Man. And while it might be a stretch to call him a Spider-Man villain, he did previously make it into a Spider-MAn toyline with Toy-Biz’s “The Spider and the Scarecrow” box-set.

*No accessory fires a kid’s imagination like a very short lamp post.*

Bottom line, our good friend Ebenezer has an iconic look that would translate well to a Marvel Legend figure. And a few creepy crow accessories are never unwelcome.

8. SOLO

A counter-terrorism operative who wages a one-man war on those who would use fear and intimidation to silence their enemies (He should be targeting the worst elements of Twitter any time now) Solo lives by the motto “While I live, terror dies!”

*Heeeere’s the guy we’re talking about.*

First appearing in Web of Spider-Man #19, Solo was a semi-regular character popping up in The Amazing Spider-Man during David Michelinie’s awesome run during the 90’s. He had his own limited series during this time, which would be impressive if characters like Nightwatch hadn’t ALSO received a limited series. Despite this, he was a character I was always glad to see pop up as his penchant for straight-up gunning down terrorists always presented a moral dilemma for the less practical Spider-Man.

*This is the costume I want, but if Solo DOES get a figure, we’re more likely to get the “Mercs for Money” costume.*

He later showed up as a side character, with a new costume, in the Deadpool series “The Mercs for Money”, and got his own limited series shortly thereafter, which like most Marvel series these days, was barely promoted or talked about, and quickly fell down the memory hole.

7. DOPPELGANGER

*For the uninitiated, this just went straight into crazy-town.*

While not one of my personal favorites, I see this guy requested all the time. First appearing as one of Magus’ minions in The Infinity War, The Spider-Man doppelganger is the only one that stuck around after that crossover, becoming a henchmen “pet” for Carnage’s girl Friday, Shriek. Having just given us an excellent six-armed Spider-Man in the Kingpin wave (a figure I’m not sure anyone was really asking for) it wouldn’t be two much of a stretch to give us this guy. Which leads us to our next entry in this list…

6. SHRIEK

*Last Maximum Carnage villain, I swear.*

Shriek has one of the weaker origins of Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery, and seems to have largely been created as a “Harley Quinn” type character to Carnage’s Joker. Still, she participated in the Maximum Carnage storyline, and was a major player in Spider-Man’s adventures for a brief time.

Initially identified as Sandra Deel, then inexplicably changed to Frances Louise Barrison, Shriek was abused by her mother for being an overweight child, leading her to drug use and eventually becoming a drug dealer. After being absorbed in the Dark Dimension during a confrontation with Cloak, she somehow gained the sonic powers she uses to further her insane desire to form a family with Cletus Kasady. After nearly being killed by Carnage in a confrontation with Deadpool, she has most recently been allied with Kraven the Hunter.

5. CARDIAC

*The enemy most likely to take out your favorite comic book writer.*

Another David Michelinie creation (I cannot tell you enough how fun his run on Spider-Man was, you should definitely seek it out,) Elias Wirtham is a physician and surgeon, and the owner/administrator of a biological research firm. Wirtham devotes his life and practice to the research of life-saving medical practices after the death of his brother Joshua. Learning that his brother’s condition had a cure that wasn’t released due to the corporation that owned it not deeming it profitable enough to release, Wirtham decides to take direct action. Using his research to replace his heart with a beta particle accelerator and grafting a vibranium mesh underneath his skin, which he can use to channel energy blasts through his hands and staff, Wirtham sets out to battle corporate greed as the anti-hero, Cardiac.

*Throw in an umasked head with that fivehead, and a Joss Whedon custom is a quick paint job away.*

Sporting a great costume design and a unique motivation and M.O. in the Spider-Man mythos, Cardiac deserves to be represented in Marvel Legends form.

4. TITANIA

*Then she surrenders to Jane Foster Thor because… sisters are doin’ it for themselves, or something?*

Okay, I know what you’re thinking… Titania is more famous for being a She-Hulk or Fantastic Four villain than anything else. But I’ll remind you that she debuted in Marvel’s first Secret Wars story (Before Marvel ran out of crossover names and just started recycling them) and faced off against Spider-Man and, despite her superior strength and durability, got her muscle-bound butt handed to her, which gave her an irrational fear of Spider-Man for some time.

*And yet, she kept coming back for more of this.*

Mary MacPherran is not only a powerful female character that can go toe to toe with many of the powerhouses in the Marvel Universe, but she’s got a great look, would bolster any Masters of Evil line-up, and is the wife and frequent crime-companion of The Absorbing Man, a figure we got as a Build-A-Figure in a previous Spider-Man assortment.

3. VERMIN

As a child, Vermin suffered horrible physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of his father. Later, Arnim Zola turned him into a giant rat. Comics doesn’t always handle real world issues with a deft hand.

Edward Whelan was working as a geneticist for rogue Nazi scientist Baron Helmut Zemo. Because working for Nazis is always ultimately a bad career choice, Zemo eventually experiments on Whelan and turns him into a cannibalistic, humanoid rat. Zemo makes Vermin fight Captain America (because making people and things fight Captain America is pretty much Zemo’s entire M.O.) until Cap defeats him and turns him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Vermin promptly escapes and goes back to working for Zemo, until he finally realizes working for Nazis is a poor career move even for a humanoid rat. He kidnaps some women and eats them because the 90’s were trying really hard to be edgy, and ends up serving a major role in the epic Kraven’s Last Hunt storyline.

With a 2-pack based on Kraven’s Last Hunt coming early this year, the time is right for a Marvel Legend figure featuring a cannibalistic rat-man.

2. SCORPION

Mac Gargan, first appearing all the way back in Amazing Spider-Man #19, hasn’t had a new Legends scale figure since the metallic version of his previously released Toy Biz figure appeared in Spider-Man Classics series 14, and has never received a 6-inch scale figure by Hasbro. A mainstay of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, it seems odd that we haven’t, as yet, had an updated release.

*Spider-Man Classics series 14 Scorpion. There he stands, just waiting for you to pick him up so his ankles can snap off.*

Mac Gargan was a private investigator who was hired by J. Jonah Jameson to find out how Peter Parker was able to obtain photos of Spider-Man. When Gargan failed in this task, J. Jonah Jameson decided to use Gargan as a test subject for an experiment which led to Gargan becoming the Scorpion (Working for J. Jonah Jameson apparently carries the same risks as working for a Nazi.)

*The mustache should have been a dead giveaway.*

Gargan would spend some time in the Venom symbiote during Warren Ellis’ incredible Thunderbolts run, before returning to the Scorpion identity in a new, high-tech suit built by Alistair Smythe… but for Marvel Legends purposes, we need Mac in the classic suit.

1. VULTURE

*When your super-villains are senior citizens, you at least know you’re gonna be home by 6:30*

Yeah, yeah, we got a movie version of the Vulture. We even got the “Ultimate Universe” version of the Vulture. But no one’s Sinister Six set is going to be complete until we get the 616 version of everyone’s favorite cantankerous old man, the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko version of Adrian Toomes.

*Who’d you THINK I meant, the Tinkerer? His figure could come with the crossword, and authentic old man smell.*

The Vulture first appeared all the way back in Amazing Spider-Man #2.
A former electronics engineer, Toomes was the business partner of a man named Gregory Bestman, who handled the finances whilst Toomes handled the inventions. One day, after creating a working flight harness, Toomes eagerly rushed into Bestman’s office to show him his invention. However, Bestman was not there, and Toomes discovered that Bestman had secretly been embezzling funds, leaving Toomes out of a job and with no legal recourse. Enraged, Toomes wrecked the office, discovering in the process that the harness also granted him superhuman strength. He then decided to turn to crime as the Vulture. (You know… like ya do.)

*How does this guy not break a hip every time he lands? Pilates?*

The Vulture became a repeated thorn in the side of Spider-Man, and is one of his least remorseful foes. A frequent member of the Sinister Six, he’s a must have for every Spider-Man collector and definitely due for an update.

HONORABLE MENTION: DOCTOR OCTOPUS

*Get a few drinks in him, and John Lasseter gets extra handsy.*

Sure, we just got a classic Doc Ock in one of last year’s Spider-Man waves, and with the exception of it’s disappointing, non-bending tentacles, it was pretty great. But it’s not the only iconic look the good doctor has sported over the years (if you can call a morbidly obese man in a thin cotton jumpsuit “iconic”) and I’m sure fans have other versions they’d like to have in their collections.

One such variation would have to be Doc Ock in his pimptastic white suit from the “Return of the Sinister Six” storyline by Erik Larsen. The look didn’t last long, but it gave Ock a more sophisticted look than previous incarnations, and definitely made him look like a boss.

An even more demanded look for a new Doc Ock would probably be his very popular design from the 90’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

Seeing how many millions of kids watched this version of Spider-Man, it’s a no-brainer to say it’s probably one of Doc’s most recognized looks, and the show remains a fond memory for nostalgic collectors. This is a figure that’d be snapped up by fans quickly at retail; especially if Hasbro didn’t cheap out on the arms!

Just don’t bring back every look from the 90’s show. Some characters didn’t fare quite as well.