Although [the Beetle] was originally the Human Torch's foe, this fantastic flying arch-villain dared to incur the wrath of Spider-Man, and what happened next made for one the most popular issues of the year! So to you, Beetle, our thanks!
"I think one of the things that absolutely wounds this film is its steadfast refusal to engage with the source material it’s adapting. Shazam laid the groundwork for this movie, setting up Adam’s appearance down the road, and then this movie doesn’t even mention Billy Batson at all. We get a cameo from Superman, sure, but Superman isn’t Adam’s archenemy is he? (…) This is a dude who is supposed to fight Shazam, but Johnson was dead set on him fighting the other buff flying super dude; if he really wanted to fight Superman so bad, why not push to play a Superman villain? He has proven time and time again he’s funny, so why not make him Bizarro? Or get really crazy and cast him as Lex Luthor, bald and occasionally buff super genius archenemy of Superman? There are so many dudes who actually fight Superman that Johnson could pull off and yet he chose to forcefully repurpose another hero’s villain instead of shifting gears a bit."
—Michael Ford, in his review of
Black Adam (2022)
Black Adam (2022)The Kingpin had become a recurring villain in Daredevil about 50 issues ago, and stuff like this is what cemented him as one of Daredevil's primary antagonists after he had originally started as one of Spider-Man's. Sure, he still interacts with both, but you could make the case for a lot of other villains in Spidey's gallery as his worst enemy or the like.
Supercow! What are you doing here?! I thought you'd never find me hiding out in a Weasel cartoon!
—The Red Guy, I Am Weasel episode "I.R. Mommy"
