Spider-Man’s Most Underrated Villain Is Having A Big Moment In Movies & TV

Spider-Man has one of the best rogues’ galleries in superhero comics of all time. Green Goblin, Venom, and Doctor Octopus are but some of the many, many interesting and compelling villains the web-slinger faces while keeping the streets of New York safe. So far, feature film adaptations of Spider-Man comics have focused on the absolute biggest of villains — while recognizing that one can never match Willem Dafoe’s take on Green Goblin. That being said, there is one underrated Spidey villain who is having a big moment across movies and TV, and even video games. I’m talking about Tombstone.

First introduced in a 1988 issue of “Web of Spider-Man,” Alonzo Thompson “Lonnie” Lincoln, aka Tombstone, is a supervillain usually depicted as a hulking Black albino man with teeth filed to points. He tends to be portrayed as either a hitman and a hired muscle for a criminal kingpin, or as the leader of a street gang. Though Lonnie has appeared in plenty of Spider-Man properties in the past, including “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” and “Spider-Verse,” he has mostly had pretty minor roles so far.

This is changing, however. The character played a big role in “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man,” and was the most compelling plotline of the series. Tombstone is also making his live-action debut in “Spider-Noir” and seems to be one of the main threats in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”

So whether you’re out of the spidey loop and want to learn more about Tombstone before he gets bigger, stick around as we explore who this guy is and why it matters.

Though Lonnie Lincoln had already appeared in several pieces of Spider-Man media, it really was “The Spectacular Spider-Man” that recognized the potential of Tombstone as a main villain. Keith David voiced the character in the first episode of that show, before being replaced by Kevin Michael Richardson. This version of Tombstone was a smart, calculating crime boss posing as a benevolent philanthropist who enlisted Norman Osborn to create super-villains to distract Spider-Man from his crimes.

A decade later, the release of Sony’s “Spider-Man” game gave Tombstone another opportunity to shine, now as a bike gang leader with ties to major criminal enterprises throughout New York City. He returns in “Spider-Man 2,” released from prison, reformed, and now working as a mechanic and atoning for his past crimes.

The best portrayal of Tombstone so far is in the “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” cartoon, which features a myriad of Spidey foes. Here, Lonnie Lincoln gets a Flash Thompson-style makeover as a potential jock antagonist to Peter before becoming a close friend to the web-slinger. Unfortunately, he is forced to join a gang to stop his younger brother from joining them. Much like the Sam Raimi films, this Tombstone’s arc as a villain is quite the tragic tale that casts him as a victim of circumstance (and an accidental gas leak) rather than malicious intent. Similarly, “Spider-Noir” paints him as a tragic figure, a World War I veteran who was captured and experimented upon, forced into a life of crime when society turned its back on him.

Tombstone is at his best when he’s a tragic figure, a man who sees no choice in life but to turn to crime. It makes him memorable and a good choice for a main villain in the near future.

Though it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s been reported that Marvin Jones III will play Tombstone in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Given the inclusion of The Hand in the movie (a group Tombstone is affiliated with in the comics), it’s very reasonable to think Tombstone will be one of the main villains of the film.

He is a vastly underrated Spidey villain because die-hard fans love the character, but casual fans probably have no idea who he is. Still, Tombstone can make for a very memorable antagonist with potential for great characterization. He is not a super-powerful villain like Venom, or even a high-tech genius like Doc Ock, but he is not such a small-time crook as, say, Big Man.

Instead, Tombstone lives in that comfortable middle ground of grounded, street-level villains who present a more human problem for Spidey, one that hits at his values and ideals even more than his powers do. The same way Vulture became the perfect villain for the new version of the web-slinger in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” a man taking advantage of a situation to provide for his family and employees, Tombstone can be portrayed in a way that’s sympathetic while still presenting a threat. He doesn’t have to be a member of the Sinister Six; he doesn’t have to be an Avengers-level threat, but a foil to your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

That’s the key here: to have a villain who challenges Spider-Man and his role as a neighborhood protector. A villain like Tombstone that’s a victim of circumstance, but still poses a great street-level threat, can be a fantastic challenge for Spider-Man now that he’s established as a superhero.