Enter: The Sinister Six!
Not Spider-Man. Sony has tried to get Tom Holland‘s Spidey or Andrew Garfield‘s Spidey into one of their movies, even shooting an initial version of Madame Web as a prequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, but Kevin Feige keeps blocking their attempts. The manic rom com energy that Tom Hardy brought to Eddie Brock and Venom made the Lethal Protector’s outings at least enjoyable enough to do great at the box office, but Venom (or the symbiote half of the character, anyway) dies at the end of the third film, meaning he’s gone too.
Some might point out that Sony still has a trio of Spider-ladies in Spider-Woman II, Spider-Woman III, and Araña, but those characters didn’t even actually appear in costume, or with fully realized superpowers, in Madame Web. No, the obvious answer is that Sony only has one force strong enough to stand up to Knull: the Sinister Six.
On the one hand, the Sinister Six are the ideal concept for Sony’s beleagured attempt at building a shared universe. Ever since Steve Ditko and Stan Lee introduced the team in 1964’s Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, the Sinister Six have been one of the cherished aspects of the Spider-Man mythos.
The Sinister Six brought together some of Spidey’s worst baddies, including Doctor Octopus, Sandman, Electro, Mysterio, Kraven, and the Vulture. Over the years, the line-up has shifted a bit, but the central idea remains the same: poor Peter Parker’s life gets worse when his enemies decide that they can get over their differences if it means killing Spider-Man.
When looked at through the eyes of a studio executive who wants to maximize IP, the Sinister Six are an Avengers-level idea. Although Sam Raimi‘s success with Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 allowed him to resist Sony pushing for the Sinister Six, he couldn’t stop Venom. And after Raimi left the property following Spider-Man 3, producer Avi Arad and Sony were free to overstuff The Amazing Spider-Man reboot series with expanded universe ideas, including the mystery of Peter Parker’s secret agent parents.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, for example, adds Electro and the Green Goblin to the rogues gallery, with Felicity Jones dropping by for a cameo as Felicia Hardy, aka the Black Cat. The movie also positions aun unseen Norman Osborn as a Nick Fury but evil(er), complete with schematics for the Scorpion, the Vulture, and Doc Ock. He even turns Paul Giamatti to a woefully misjudged Rhino during a last scene stinger.
