In several of the press releases regarding the newly relaunched Spider-Man comics, Spider-Man editor Steve Wacker, along with several other members of the brain trust, have let it be known that there are no plans to bring in any of the classic Spider-Man villains for quite a while. Instead, the team plans on inventing a slew of new villains and characters that will make up both the world of Peter Parker and Spider-Man collectively. A bold move to say the least.

I see what the team is trying to do. By not having the old villains in the picture so soon, it gives them the ability to keep the comics moving along with the vintage style they’re trying to achieve but also keep the title fresh and new as to not make it feel entirely like a comic that someone had already read years ago. Not to mention, it’s always fun to see some new faces for Spider-Man to battle. Let’s take a quick look at some of the new villains that have been appearing or are scheduled to make appearances in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man:

• Mr. Negative

An interesting choice for the first major villain in the Brand New Day run. Mr. Negative was basically just a normal guy, who happened to have the colors on his body inverted, that wanted to kill off some mobsters. Hardly a super-villain but an interesting character nonetheless.

• Menace

Menace is easily the biggest new villain in Spider-Man’s life right now. We might not have many details about who he is and why he’s here but we know for sure he’s not one of the good guys. I don’t think ASM would feel quite the same without some sort of goblin in it.

• Freak

Marvel’s shown off a couple of shots of this newly created villain. My guess is he either morphs or transforms into a much larger, more disfigured version of himself. He can be seen gracing the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #554.

• Jackpot

I understand that she’s not really a villain but she’s a big part of Spider-Man’s stories. Also, she helped the Blue Shield restrain Spidey in issue #550 so she’s obviously got a little bit of a beef with the webhead. Her identity, which is technically still a secret, is probably the most interesting part about her character. It’ll be nice to see who she actually is…assuming we ever find out.

• Screwball

Not much is really known about this villain at this point. He, or she, is listed as the first “first ever livestreaming super-villain” by Marvel.com. What that exactly means remains to be seen. We’ll have to wait until May to find out.

• Spider-Mugger

Alright so maybe this guy didn’t have a massively long-term effect on Spider-Man’s world but he was the first actual villain in the post-OMD world. His appearance and death are still a big part of the current stories.

I think, personally, when an old enemy of Spider-Man finally appears, it’ll be refreshing to see some veteran villainy back in the pages of ASM. In the meantime, I think this new army of villains the brain trust has cooked up will keep most fans, myself included, perfectly satisfied.

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