The 20 greatest (and 10 worst) Spider-Man villains of all time
By Mike McNulty
13th Best Villain: The Lizard
Another “Jekyll and Hyde” type villain, this one has the distinction of being Spider-Man’s occasional ally when he needed help on the scientific front. That is, of course, when Dr. Curt Connors wasn’t a seven-foot tall reptile man bent on reclaiming the Earth for reptiles everywhere.
Dr. Connors, as a character, also serves as a modern-day Greek tragedy. When first introduced in Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1 #6, we learn how he’s already a renown scientist with a loving wife and son–the kind of idyllic life a young Peter Parker could want. But having lost his arm during “the war,” Dr. Connors literally feels like an incomplete man. His study of reptiles to replicate their regenerative properties seems motivated by self-interest than advancing the cause of science.
So once he tests his formula on himself, and first transforms into the Lizard, it sets him on the slow, painful path of losing everything he held dear. In a way, it’s Stan Lee re-imagining his own Incredible Hulk as a villain. They’re both green, wear purple pants, are incredibly strong, and cannot be harmed by conventional means. It’s just that the Lizard also has a tail, fangs, scales, the ability to regrow body parts, and can telepathically control other reptiles.
On the plus side, this meant Spider-Man had to both protect and defeat Connors when he became the Lizard. But it also could get predictable, since usually Connors wife, Martha, and son, Billy, would be the key to turning him back to normal again. But since both Connor’s wife and son have died (and returned as clones combined with reptile DNA), and Connors himself stuck in his Lizard form, it’s anyone’s guess how his story will evolve.