People can't be indestructible in comic book movies, otherwise, there is no tension. The heroes and/or villains need to have a weak point of emotional or physical trauma in order to keep audiences invested in the story. Without that, the story would just be boring.
No comic book franchise showcases this better than Spider-Man. The films have a tendency to really amp up the levels of pain shown in the films. Whether it's Spider-Man himself getting hurt or one of his villains, there are plenty of painful moments across Marvel movie history that will have anyone cringing at the sight of them.
Shock And Awe - Spider-Man: Homecoming
Michael Keaton's incarnation of the Vulture was definitely a villain. However, for the first third of the Spider-Man: Homecoming, he doesn't seem like he's that bad. Just a man angry about being screwed over by his superiors. However, Vulture enters the despicable when he's had enough of Shocker.
After Shocker mouths off and threatens to expose him, Vulture uses a ray gun to incinerate him. It's so sudden and dark for such a family-friendly film, but it helps in turning Vulture into one of the more complex villains of the MCU.
Welcome Back And Broken Back - Spider-Man 2
Intended for comedy or not, this scene in Spider-Man 2 is just hard to watch. It has a great setup as Peter Parker attempts to get his Spider-Powers back through willpower while Danny Elfman's score roars. Instead of baby steps, he decides to leap right off a high rooftop: what could go wrong?
Well, Peter plummets, and just hitting the hard pavement wasn't enough for Sam Raimi. Peter snaps through a clothesline, swings it into a brick wall, then hits two cars. Of course, he lives but he limps away whimpering about his back like Batman after an encounter with Bane.
I Don't Feel So Good - Avengers: Infinity War
While this moment in Infinity War isn't all that physically brutal, it was brutal to the hearts of fans everywhere. Thanos won, he got the Infinity Stones and snapped his fingers causing half of the universe's population to fade into nothing. This includes a plethora of beloved Avengers and Guardians.
Many were unexpected but none shocked fans as hard as the death of Spider-Man. Seeing Spider-Man cry into Tony Stark's arms saying he doesn't want to go set so many fans into tears. Finally, Spider-Man turns to ashes and thus one of the coldest endings ever was delivered.
Electro's Transformation - The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Out of all the villains across the Spider-Man movies, none had a more violent creation than Electro. Lonely Max Dillon sings "Happy Birthday" to himself as he attempts to fix a cable at OsCorp. As a result, he falls into a vat of genetically altered eels that begin devouring him.
Later in a morgue, Max awakens inside a hard cocoon that he breaks out of. It's a transformation that could be seen in a sci-fi horror movie and definitely set the character up for greatness as a villain.
Harry's Fall - Spider-Man 3
Peter's fall in Spider-Man 2 was bad enough but Spider-Man 3 takes it up a notch. Harry as the New Goblin attempts to kill Spider-Man, believing Peter killed his father. After distracting Harry, Peter sets up a web-based line that clotheslines his neck at high speed.
Harry flips headfirst into a pipe, plows head and back through a metal vent, then hits face-first into a dumpster, and finally rolls onto the pavement. Overkill doesn't begin to describe this moment but thankfully, Harry has Goblin strength so he lives but succumbs to the cliché of amnesia.
Mysterio's Greatest Illusion - Spider-Man: Far From Home
From a physical and mental point of view, Spider-Man gets completely destroyed by Mysterio. Mysterio warps reality around Peter, causing him to be flung across the worlds of Mysterio's illusions. Mysterio makes it terrifying by having Peter see a zombified Iron Man climb out of his grave.
Meanwhile, Mysterio taunts Peter until finally Spider-Man is run over by a train. It's visually stunning but it's also hard to see Spider-Man get tormented so badly. It's why Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio was such a good villain in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Battle With Sandman - Spider-Man 3
Sometimes, it's all about perspective. In this scene, Black Suit Spider-Man attacks the Sandman to get revenge for Uncle Ben's murder. The two battle across the subway and at first glance, it seems like a normal but well-done fight between the hero and villain.
However, Spider-Man and Sandman are hitting each other with some extremely violent attacks. It perfectly showcases how dark this corrupted Spider-Man is, especially when Spider-Man grinds Sandman's face against the train. Imagine if Sandman was still just a human; yeah, it's kind of messed up.
Final Green Goblin Fight - Spider-Man
Each of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films saw Spidey take a lot of damage from the villain. However, none of the sequels quite matched the brutality of Green Goblin's beatdown of Spider-Man. Spidey provides some great counter-attacks as they fight through an abandoned building but Goblin just wrecks him.
Blood and sweat are constantly flying off Spider-Man while more and more of his suit gets destroyed. Finally, it comes to a head when Spider-Man gets the upper hand and repays the favor. It ends when Goblin accidentally impales himself with his own glider thus killing himself.
Hospital Of Horrors - Spider-Man 2
Those expecting just an awesome adventure with Spider-Man were shocked when Spider-Man 2 transformed into a horror movie for a few minutes. When surgeons attempt to remove Doc Ock's tentacles, the AI goes rogue and effectively murders all of them.
Doctors are being flung through walls, stabbed, electrocuted, suffocated, and more. It's such a disturbing scene that likely traumatized some young viewers. It's also a well-done horror scene that has no music to make the sounds more impactful, creative angles, and some memorable kills.
Gwen Stacy's Death - The Amazing Spider-Man 2
In most films, if a beloved character is killed: the violent part of it is usually off-screen. Not in the case of The Amazing Spider-Man films: they weren't afraid to show the violent deaths. None were more jarring than Gwen Stacy's in the final act of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Everyone knew Gwen was going to die due to Sony's poor marketing at the time. However, nobody was expecting to see the back of Gwen's head collide loudly with the ground in clear view. It completely cuts out all sound and caused a lot of jaws to drop, leading to one of the most heartbreaking deaths.