Marvel Comics had a history of creating some ridiculous super villains over the years, and this was really happening a lot in the ’60s and ’70s. If there was any superhero who had to fight more weird villains than anyone else, it was probably Spider-Man, closely followed by Daredevil. These villains are everything from ridiculously designed characters to people with the strangest powers to villains that cause the heroes to laugh more than they strike fear into them. Some of these characters ended up disappearing, as modern-day Marvel doesn’t have as much time for silly villains, although some were rebooted, as creative teams tried to make them a little more interesting.
From Spider-Man’s most bizarre villains to strange bad guys that fight other heroes, here are the weirdest Marvel Comics villains.
10) Wall
Spider-Man has a lot of weird villains in Marvel Comics, and one of the strangest is simply named Wall. The main version of Wall that most fans joke about is Joshua Waldemeyer from Earth-57780, and he first appeared in 1975 in Spidey Super Stories #8. He was a former student who was involved in a construction accident that turned him into a living brick wall with a face and a pair of legs. The entire situation was ludicrous.
Marvel introduced a new character, a decade later, in the Cloak and Dagger comics called Wall, who has a body more powerful than adamantium, yet still appears human. However, while the original version only appeared once, he also made an appearance in the Spidey Super Stories cartoon, securing his legacy.
9) Leap-Frog
There have been two versions of Leap-Frog, and the first one was a weird Marvel Comics villain. This was Vincent Patilio, a villain who made his debut in Daredevil #25 in 1966. He was an inventor who had little success, so he designed a suit with leaping coils and started a life of crime, where his only power was his leaping ability, which only allowed him to bounce around everywhere.
Eventually, he became a more serious character after serving time for his crimes and then settled into being a father. His son then became Frog-Man, but he ultimately became a hero, albeit one just as ridiculous as his dad.
8) Asbestos Man
Asbestos Man was a Human Torch villain, but, interestingly, he was not the first villain with this weird gimmick. Instead, there was an Asbestos Lady who appeared as a villain of the original Human Torch in the old Timely Comics line. However, there is no connection between Asbestos Man and Asbestos Lady other than the name and the use of asbestos as a weapon.
This was before people really knew what asbestos was, and it was used as a goofy weapon that could counter fire, which made them great villains for the weaknesses of the two Human Torch heroes. While using asbestos as a weapon makes no sense today, Marvel ultimately redeemed him: Orson Kasloff ended up contracting cancer from using asbestos and agreed to surrender if the Great Lake Avengers agreed to honor him as a great villain, as part of his legacy.
7) Kangaroo
Kangaroo is similar to Leap-Frog, but his legacy is much smaller. His first appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man #81 in 1969, as an Australian man named Frank Oliver who lived among kangaroos as a young man. He snuck into America and lived as a fugitive on the streets until Spider-Man caught him. He ended up getting air-jet implants from Dr. Jonas Harrow to give him great leaping powers. However, he quickly died while trying to steal radioactive materials.
There was a second Kangaroo named Brian Hibbs, who debuted in 1993 and based his character on Oliver’s failed villain. He initially teamed up with Grizzly, another weird Marvel Comics villain.
6) Madcap
Madcap is one of Marvel Comics’ weirdest villains, whose main power is making people act in wild, uncontrollable ways. He also has a bubble gun that does nothing but shoot bubbles, but he pretends it is what makes people lose control, even though he actually uses mind control. As for his acts of villainy, he initially encountered Nomad, who tried to help him. The hero soon realized Madcap was beyond help.
He then went on to fight Daredevil, Power Pack, She-Hulk, and Ghost Rider, the last of which left him even more out of control. However, Madcap became even weirder when he became one of Deadpool’s greatest enemies, and the fact that he went into Deadpool’s mind caused Madcap to go entirely over the edge.
5) Big Wheel
Big Wheel was Jackson Weele, a corrupt businessperson who became entangled in some illegal dealings with Rocket Racer. Eventually, Rocket Racer refused to let Jackson out of their deal and began to torment him. Weele ended up getting a giant motorized wheel with machine guns and rocket launchers to fight back, and this put him and Rocket Racer in the sights of Spider-Man.
Since that time, Big Wheel has tried to be a hero, with disastrous results, returned to being a villain, with no luck, and then tried to be a hero again, although he still couldn’t do anything right. Just looking at the big wheel he pilots, it is really hard to take him seriously.
4) Typeface
Typeface is a villain named Gordon Thomas, and his name comes from the letters he draws on his face. Gordon fought in the Siancong War, where his brother Joey died, and when he returned home, his wife left him and took his son away with her. He has no superpowers, but this weird Marvel Comics villain used giant letters as weapons, while also committing vandalism throughout the city.
He eventually decided to stop being a villain; instead, he turned into a vigilante, leaving ridiculous notes with criminals he captured, based on Spider-Man’s gimmick, writing, “Compliments from your friendly neighborhood Typeface.”
3) Doctor Bong
The Marvel Comics villain with the weirdest name and gimmick is Doctor Bong. Lester Verde was an overweight child who was bullied, and he decided to become a journalist when he grew up, where he used this role to hurt people who he believed hurt him. Eventually, he became the weird villain known as Doctor Bong, named for the bell-shaped helmet he wore on his head. He also sported a large metal ball in place of a hand that was severed in an accident years earlier.
With this ridiculous weapon, when he strikes his bell helmet with his metal ball hand, it can teleport Bong or others with him somewhere else. Doctor Bong quickly became an enemy of Howard the Duck because Howard was romantically involved with Beverly Switzler, whom Lester had an unrequited crush on in school.
2) Stilt-Man
Stilt-Man is Wilbur Day, and he created a battle suit that could increase his height to up to 290 feet. He became a villain to Daredevil and Spider-Man. While his legs were resistant to things like Spider-Man’s webbing, he really has no powers other than the legs that enable him to be extremely tall. This was a character who first appeared in 1965 as a Daredevil villain, but he never really amounted to anything more than a weird and obscure Marvel Comics villain.
However, Marvel made him something much bigger in Iron Man comics in 2021, when he was shown to be alive but trapped on a world Korvac created, where he became a charismatic cult-like villain, yet without needing to utilize his mostly worthless tech powers.
1) Paste-Pot Pete
Easily, one of the weirdest villains in Marvel Comics history is a man known as Paste-Pot Pete. He first appeared in Strange Tales #104 in 1962. For much of his early career as a villain, he used his paste gun to shoot a stream of glue as his weapon; however, he also needed to carry a bucket of paste with him, which made the entire situation ridiculous. Later, he no longer needed his paste bucket, but his weapon, being a glue gun, was still silly.
Marvel Comics finally decided that Paste-Pot Pete was always going to be a joke, so they changed his name to Trapster. It helped a little, but Marvel capitalized on his weird reputation, so characters call him Paste-Pot Pete to annoy him when he arrives on the scene.
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