As soon as it was announced that Sony was planning a shared universe of Marvel Comics adaptations, everyone resigned themselves to the fact a Sinister Six all-star blockbuster would be part of the plan, even if things didn’t go so well the last time the studio tried to will a multi-faceted mythology into existence.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 suffered greatly from trying to do too much, and the relentless Sinister Six teases were a big part of that. Once Andrew Garfield’s second spandex-clad escapade went down in the history books as the worst-reviewed and lowest-grossing live-action Spidey movie ever, the plug was pulled on Drew Goddard’s villainous spinoff.
Of course, we’re already well on the way to Sinister Six 2.0 becoming a reality, and during a Twitter Q&A hosted by CinemaBlend, Morbius director Daniel Espinosa hinted that Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes could be the one to get the ball rolling.
On paper, you’d expect Sony’s Sinister Six lineup to feature Keaton’s Vulture, Tom Hardy’s Venom, Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter, Jared Leto’s Morbius, and two further additions.
The ending of Spider-Man: No Way Home ruled out any of the multiversal antagonists from the Sam Raimi or Marc Webb timelines, so that leaves the door wide open for any number of potential adversaries to be established in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe between now and the point they face off with the friendly neighborhood superhero, whoever ends up being under the costume.
From the outside looking in, it doesn’t appear to be a particularly streamlined operation, but that’s always been the Sony way.