Last week, Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal addressed investors regarding the studio’s plans for Spider-Man.  We already knew that there were going to be two additional movies ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ movies, but Pascal stated, “We are going to access Marvel’s full world of Spider-Man characters, so be on the lookout for new heroes and villains.”

This could simply mean that they want to add more characters to the “Amazing Spider-Man” series, but they could potentially spin-off various characters into separate franchises that tie together, the way Marvel has with its line of movies.  Which of Spidey’s “Amazing Friends” do you want to see in their own movies?  Here are a few suggestions:

Honorable Mention: Golden Oldie (a.k.a. Aunt May)

Empowered by the cosmic devourer of worlds Galactus, Aunt May is to serve as his herald, locating populated world for him to consume in order to survive.  Instead, Golden Oldie locates a cosmic baker that makes delicious, planet-sized snack cakes in order to satisfy Galactus’ hunger.  This was a real comic!  Okay, it was a dream sequence and a parody of those delightfully corny Hostess snack cake ads that used to run in comics in the 70s and 80s.  But that would be something…

10. Rocket Racer

Marvel never missed the opportunity to jump on a fleeting fad, whether it was blaxploitation (Luke Cage), kung fu (Shang-Chi, Iron Fist) or disco (Dazzler, The Hypno Hustler).  Skateboarding was no exception.  Robert Farrell started off as a glorified purse-snatcher, zipping around on his rocket powered skateboard that allowed him to zoom up the sides of skyscrapers.  Ultimately, he turned over a new leaf and devoted his grinding skills to justice, just like Tony Hawk!  But hey, everyone loves a good redemption story!  (And this won’t be the only one on this list.)

9. Frog-Man

Eugene Patilo’s father created the spring-powered costume and embarked in a brief and unsuccessful career as Leap Frog.  Eugene took the suit and attempted to launch a career as a hero.  Unfortunately, he was quite bumbling and clumsy, yet things always seemed to work out in his favor.  Aw, c’mon… you know you want to see this costume in live action!  (And you thought Golden Oldie was bad!)

8. The Slingers

After DC’s ‘The Death of Superman’ story, Marvel… well, ripped it off.  Spider-Man was accused of murder, but simply could not keep himself from fighting crime, so he crafted four new suits and identities: the armored Prodigy, whose suit renders him bulletproof and super strong; Ricochet, who was super agile and had “danger sense” and could fling energy discs; Dusk who could blend into shadows and glide; and Hornet could fly and project tranquilizing darts.  Once the storyline wrapped, Marvel decided to give the identities to four new characters and spin them off into a team called the Slingers, who could possibly work in a movie.

7. The Prowler

Hobie Brown originally invented his special gadgets (inspired by Stilt-Man) in order to help him clean windows, but when he lost his job, he decided to turn to crime, briefly, but was discouraged from this lifestyle and became a close ally of Spider-Man’s even impersonating him in order to protect his secret identity.  He recently attended Stilt-Man’s funeral.  He’s also worked with The Outlaws and…

6. Silver Sable

International mercenary, Silver Sable leads a highly trained team of espionage experts known as the Wild Pack on globe-trotting adventures… for the right price.  Sable was trained from early childhood as a spy and combatant.  A Silver Sable movie could open up the Sony Marvel Universe, visiting nations other than the US.  Make her the female Jason Bourne of super heroes!

5. Morbius

Formerly a villain, Michael Morbius is a “Living Vampire,” after his scientific experiments gave him the traits of a supernatural vampire.  He vowed to only feed off of villains, but this brought him into conflict with Spider-Man and other heroes.  Vampires are still hot in movie and TV and he could bring a darker, supernatural element to super hero movies.

4. A Spider-Woman

And there have been several.  If you want a direct connection to Spider-Man, the closest you come is Martha “Mattie” Franklin, whose aunt (and guardian) Marla married J. Jonah Jameson.  Mattie possessed the powers of every Spider-Woman before her.  This includes the original Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, who technically has no connection to Spider-Man.  Jessica’s powers were the result of her parents scientific experimentation, giving her super strength, wall-crawling, flight, pheromone secretion, a spider-sense and bio-energy “venom blasts.”  Jessica was succeeded by Julia Carpenter who also had no connection to Peter Parker, but had the power to create psychic energy webs.  Technically, Julia could also get her own movie aside from the other two, as she later adopted the code-name Arachne.

3. Spider-Man 2099

In the year 2099, Miguel O’Hara worked for a powerful but corrupt corporation.  When he stood up to his boss, he was drugged.  In an effort to save his life, he underwent an experimental process that was sabotaged by his supervisor in an effort to kill him.  Instead, O’Hara gained spider-like powers similar to the classic Spider-Man’s but with a few twists.  He had fangs and talons.  He had biological spinnerets (albeit, they adapted those to Tobey Maguire’s take on the character) and perhaps most interestingly, he could move so fast that he left behind a visual decoy to fool his enemies.  He then battled futuristic versions of Doctor Octopus, The Green Goblin and others.  Sic-fi futuristic Spider-Man?  Sounds good to me!

4. Black Cat

Cynically, you could call Black Cat a blatant Catwoman rip-off and you would have a reasonable argument.  Upon encountering Spider-Man, she fell in love with him and utilized her criminal career in order to get his attention.  Eventually they began dating, but Felicia recoiled when Spider-Man revealed his identity to her, horrified that he was just a normal man under the mask.  They dated for a while more, but eventually broke up.  She went solo, but occasionally backslides into her criminal ways.  This could be a nice chance for Marvel to one-up DC by showing them how to make a real Catwoman movie!

1. Venom, Flash Thompson

Flash Thompson is one of Spidey’s most famous supporting cast members.  Originally, a thug who bullied Peter Parker in high school, after graduation, the two actually became good friends. Ironically, the entire time Flash was terrorizing Peter, he worshiped Spider-Man, despite public opinion being against the vigilante.  Eventually,  Flash enlisted in the military and had both his legs blown off in Iraq.  He enlisted in a secret government project and was bonded with the Venom symbiote.  With his new powers, he could regenerate his legs and had classic Venom powers, which he combined with his military expertise.

So what do you think?  Would you like to see movies based on Spidey’s supporting cast?  Are there any that you think would make better choices than these?  Comment below!