A classic Spider-Man villain returns to become the next major antagonist Peter Parker and his loved ones will have to face off against. Spider-Man’s world-famous rogues’ gallery has earned its reputation through decades of landmark comics and acclaimed adaptations that elevated many of its members into household names. Green Goblin became Peter Parker’s defining nemesis through stories like The Night Gwen Stacy Died before Willem Dafoe’s performance in Sam Raimi’s movie trilogy. Likewise, Alfred Molina’s celebrated live-action Doctor Octopus reinforced decades of popular comics, and Venom evolved into one of Marvel’s biggest franchises across multiple solo comics, video games, animation, and an entire movie trilogy of his own.
However, several lesser-known Spider-Man villains have also experienced a rise in prominence during the last two decades. Tombstone is now one of Spider-Man’s most dependable street-level antagonists thanks to memorable appearances in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series and Spider-Noir. Mister Negative followed a similar path after Insomniac’s Spider-Man games introduced millions of players to Martin Li’s dual identity, and the Spot experienced perhaps the most dramatic rise of all after Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse reimagined him as a terrifying multiversal threat with deeply personal ties to Miles Morales.
With Spider-Man: Brand New Day marking the first live-action appearances of villains like Boomerang, Tarantula, and Ramrod, Marvel is shaking up the wall-crawler’s antagonist scene by placing both famous and lesser-known foes in unfamiliar roles across all media.
Chameleon Returns As Mary Jane’s Next Enemy
Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger #1; Written By J.M. DeMatteis; Art By Andrea Broccardo & Java Tartaglia
After her stint as Venom’s host, Mary Jane Watson is parting ways with the symbiote and returning to her regular life as a civilian. However, MJ will bring the superhero scene and its negative side effects to her personal life with her. Mary Jane, Face It, Tiger #1’s first story, “Faces in the Crowd,” features Chameleon posing as Peter Parker and threatening Mary Jane in Spider-Man’s absence. How Mary Jane will face Chameleon without Venom remains to be seen, but Chameleon is now a member of Mary Jane’s very own rogues’ gallery.
Chameleon might make an exceptionally effective long-term antagonist for Mary Jane because his greatest weapon has never been physical strength, but deception. Mary Jane has always excelled under pressure through intelligence, while Chameleon’s mastery of disguise and psychological manipulation could place Mary Jane at the center of psychological thrillers and murder mysteries where she can’t trust any ally. A villain capable of impersonating Peter Parker himself presents a type of danger that can’t be defeated with sheer force.
Chameleon Is An Overlooked Member Of Spider-Man’s Rogues’ Gallery
Chameleon Is Spider-Man’s Supervillain, After All
Unfortunately, Chameleon rarely receives the same attention as major Spider-Man villains like Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, and Venom, but his place in Spider-Man history deserves far greater recognition. Dmitri Smerdyakov holds the distinction of becoming Spider-Man’s first costumed supervillain, debuting in The Amazing Spider-Man #1, before nearly every other iconic member of Peter Parker’s rogues’ gallery. Since then, Chameleon’s greatest victories often begin long before Spider-Man realizes a crime has even occurred, since every successful impersonation allows him to manipulate Spider-Man’s life from afar.
Chameleon made his live-action debut in Sony’s Kraven the Hunter, where he only became a shapeshifting supervillain at the very end.
Chameleon’s connections to Kraven the Hunter provide another compelling dimension to his threat, especially after Kraven’s Last Hunt and later stories explored the emotional consequences of Sergei Kravinoff’s legacy. Chameleon has orchestrated elaborate conspiracies and forced Spider-Man to question his own instincts simply by making certainty impossible using nothing but disguise. While Peter Parker is busy with new villains like Ravage, Dmitri Smerdyakov can uphold his historical status in Spider-Man history by becoming Mary Jane’s new archnemesis.
Which Spider-Man villain would you like to see become MJ’s enemy?
Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger #1 is available on August 5, 2026.
- Movie(s)
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Spider-Man, Spider-Man Strikes Back, Spider-Man: The Dragon’s Challenge, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
- TV Show(s)
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Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Spider-Man Unlimited, Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Spider-Noir
- Comic
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The Amazing Spider-Man
