Digi
At one point when I was making the original Spidey respect thread, I realized that he ALWAYS beat his villains handily after about the first 10 years of ASM. Basically, by the mid 70's, the villains were only dangerous in so far as they endangered other people.
Of course, there are exceptions. Kingpin was literally the only exception to this rule for years. Parker could dominate almost anyone else once he got angry and took the kid gloves off. Venom during his initial run (and then he also started being portrayed < Spidey). But so many villains - Shocker, Scorpion, Doc Ock, Osborn (yes, especially him), Vulture, Kraven, Kingpin, several others. Osborn, notably, doesn't have a Goblin v. Spidey win against Peter since he was in high school, unless it slipped through my attention. He's donned Iron Man armor, had teams surrounding him, turned himself into a Hulk, etc. But in a "regular" matchup he's not a threat at all. So we think of him as a major villain, and he is, but he's also about 1-15 lifetime against Pete in PIS-less circumstances. Same with Ock.
By the 2000's, they were having to make new challenges, or give him entirely new rogues. Or give large upgrades to certain people, like Scorpion. Even the on-again-off-again team the Sinister Six is a nod to this fact.
So the point isn't that there aren't threats. There are, and legitimate ones. I'm also not saying Spidey doesn't have rogues that are more powerful than him. He does, just not nearly a majority. But the point is that the "classic" rogues gallery is, frankly, a step beneath Spidey physically. Most heroes have equals in their villains, or more powerful threats that they regularly face. And they have to use their cunning as well as their powers.
An opposite would be Batman, who should be torn apart by several of his villains. Some are more cerebral threats (Penguin, Joker, any of the crime bosses), but many have actual powers that Batman can't compete with on a purely physical level.
Other obvious examples include Flash, who for a long time made his rogues seem like a joke.
...
So, not quite a vs. thread, but sort of. Who has outgrown their rogues the most? And I don't mean in the comics, where lopsided prep and schemes and resources come into play. But in a forum-style confrontation.
Of course, there are exceptions. Kingpin was literally the only exception to this rule for years. Parker could dominate almost anyone else once he got angry and took the kid gloves off. Venom during his initial run (and then he also started being portrayed < Spidey). But so many villains - Shocker, Scorpion, Doc Ock, Osborn (yes, especially him), Vulture, Kraven, Kingpin, several others. Osborn, notably, doesn't have a Goblin v. Spidey win against Peter since he was in high school, unless it slipped through my attention. He's donned Iron Man armor, had teams surrounding him, turned himself into a Hulk, etc. But in a "regular" matchup he's not a threat at all. So we think of him as a major villain, and he is, but he's also about 1-15 lifetime against Pete in PIS-less circumstances. Same with Ock.
By the 2000's, they were having to make new challenges, or give him entirely new rogues. Or give large upgrades to certain people, like Scorpion. Even the on-again-off-again team the Sinister Six is a nod to this fact.
So the point isn't that there aren't threats. There are, and legitimate ones. I'm also not saying Spidey doesn't have rogues that are more powerful than him. He does, just not nearly a majority. But the point is that the "classic" rogues gallery is, frankly, a step beneath Spidey physically. Most heroes have equals in their villains, or more powerful threats that they regularly face. And they have to use their cunning as well as their powers.
An opposite would be Batman, who should be torn apart by several of his villains. Some are more cerebral threats (Penguin, Joker, any of the crime bosses), but many have actual powers that Batman can't compete with on a purely physical level.
Other obvious examples include Flash, who for a long time made his rogues seem like a joke.
...
So, not quite a vs. thread, but sort of. Who has outgrown their rogues the most? And I don't mean in the comics, where lopsided prep and schemes and resources come into play. But in a forum-style confrontation.
