Back when Andrew Garfield's Amazing Spider-Man franchise was airing, the worst-kept secret going was that Sony was secretly aiming to lead up to a Sinister Six film. This became painfully obvious when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was loaded with set-up after set-up and teases around every corner.
Not only were the movie's two main villains Electro and Green Goblin, but Doc Ock's arms and Vulture's wings were seen clear as day in one of the film's final shots. Then let's not forget Rhino, who showed up in the last few minutes to round out the movie.
Add Lizard into the mix, and it sets up a rough Sinister Six line-up. Obviously, none of that came to pass. Instead, fans have Spider-Man: No Way Home, a film which seems to be building towards a very similar conclusion.
Now, thanks to someone at Deadline, it's been revealed that not only is Sinister Six still a long-term goal for Sony, but they may be using Venom: Let There Be Carnage to get there.
Venom Leading Towards The Sinister Six
On Deadline's Hero Nation Podcast, Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro revealed an interesting scoop about Sony and their hopes for the future of their Marvel universe.
D'Alessandro says that with the upcoming film Venom: Let There Be Carnage, "[Sony's] actually going to connect to the Spider-Man universe," and that one of Sony's "long-term goals is to make Sinister Six," a project that would presumably be an ensemble movie headlined by the Web-Slinger's iconic rogues gallery.
"Because Sony's always kept, outside of the current Spider-Man stuff they're doing with the Disney MCU, Sony's always kept their Marvel stuff separate, and with this Venom, they're actually going to connect to the Spider-Man universe [that's being set-up with the] Disney MCU. So that's very interesting. I know one of their long-term goals is to make Sinister Six. That's kinda the project we're all waiting for; their version of the bad guys from the Spider-Man [universe]."
The Sinister Future of Spider-Man
Venom has never classically been a member of the Sinister Six, though he has been in the group before. Even not being a reoccurring member, that wouldn't stop Sony from putting the character alongside them—though, with Tom Hardy's version of the character, it's hard enough to see why he would fight Spider-Man, let alone join up with a bunch of super-villains.
When it comes to Spider-Man: No Way Home, compiling all the rumors of varying credibility, the line-up of villains in the film could consist of Doc Ock, Green Goblin, Sandman, Lizard, Electro, and Rhino; nearly all of them had blatant teases in the recently released teaser trailer, so Peter may have his hands quite full.
The classic Sinister Six roster includes Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Doc Ock, Vulture, Sandman, and Electro. There hasn't been any word on whether fans can expect to see Holland's previous villains show up, but it's worth noting that while Mysterio and Vulture haven't been heavily rumored for a return, they are already established within the MCU—easy pickings for Sony in the future.
Then there's Kraven the Hunter, who hasn't yet seen live-action love. Worry not (or do?), Sony is already on top of this, having commissioned a solo film for the infamous hunter -for better or for worse.
It will be interesting to see how Spider-Man: No Way Home shapes up when it hits theaters on December 17 later this year and if its loaded roster of rumored villains scratches that Sinister Six itch for Sony, or if there's far more planned down the pipeline.
