Sinister Six: Cursed Or Coming?

Remember that Sinister Six movie that Sony attempted to set up from The Amazing Spider-Man franchise that crumbled miserably after its second installment? Or the tragedy that was Spider-Man 3? With Tom Holland continuing his role as the beloved wall-crawler in next month's #SpiderManHomecoming, and rumors of multiple villains appearing alongside him, I know I'm not the only one hoping to see the Sinister Six come to fruition.

With several actors and actresses in the cast that are mysteriously without character names, it's hard to imagine that Sony isn't hiding something from fans. Since the #SinisterSix is one of Spider-Man's biggest threats in the comics — The Vulture among them — it's not too far-fetched to assume they may be on their way.

The Curse Of The Sinister Six

With two failed attempts at bringing this team to the silver screen, you would think that Sony would move on to other things for Spidey. However, The Sinister Six has always been part of Sony's plan and it's the relationship with #Marvel that gives me hope of a job (finally) well done.

This is all still pretty confusing, but I think when looked at through fresh eyes, this may be the perfect storm to bring in each of these villains. With Tom Holland's recent confirmation of a trilogy, perhaps when spread out over time, the Sinister Six could break from their Sony induced coma.

Who Are The Sinister Six?

Before we get into what could happen in this trilogy, let's look at the origins. While there have been plenty of iterations throughout the comics, I'm going to stick with the original team and then we can look at what may transpire in the movies.

Doctor Octopus

You couldn't have the Sinister Six without Otto Octavius, and we wouldn't want to begin with anyone else. After suffering multiple defeats at the hands of Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus (the original, for you comic book fans) becomes separated from his robotic tentacles. Lucky for him, his tentacles break him out of prison. After this, he attempts to contact each of Spider-Man's villains in order to create a team to take down Spidey once and for all. With five responses, this team takes form with the following members:

Vulture

Adrian Toomes, as played by Michael Keeton, is our first of the Six to be introduced (in Spider-Man: Homecoming) in what looks to be the kind of seriously fleshed out villain that many of Sony's previous villains may have lacked. Mechanical wings and a heart for vengeance, you couldn't ask more from a bird-themed villain.

Electro

You may remember this character from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 inspired by the Ultimate comics. While it was the first attempt at bringing this character to the big screen, I wouldn't call it a success; don't base your opinion of this character on those bad memories. Maxwell "Max" Dillon (who was the first Electro, a villain that is later replicated) gained his ability to control electricity when he was struck by lightning while working on a power line. There has been much reimagining about this particular characters origin in the comics. A good example of this is in Electro's Ultimate Marvel incarnation; reimagined with powers as a product of bioengineering experimentation by Justin Hammer (and a much less goofy outfit). This could be an interesting tie into the MCU later on.

Kraven the Hunter

Russian immigrant, Sergei Kravinoff is a crazed big game hunter who continually attempts to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world (thus his draw to defeating Spider-Man). Hating the use of guns, bow and arrows, Kraven attempts to take down the largest, most dangerous animals with his bare hands after taking a potion of jungle herbs which gave him enhanced sight, hearing, and smell. Another fun fact about Kraven is that his half-brother is the Chameleon, another Spider-Man villain, so that could be a hint at a potential future character.

Mysterio

Quentin Beck is just your typical former Hollywood special effects designer and stunt man who became a technology-based criminal and one of Spider-Man's more frequent villains in the comics. As one of Spider-Man's earliest comic book foes, wouldn't it make sense to bring in Mysterio while we have a younger Peter Parker? I, for one, am crossing my fingers, because this villain was made for the movies.

Sandman

William Baker (a.k.a. Flint Marko)'s sandy shapeshifting abilities were given to him through an accident similar to what we saw in Spider-Man 3. With all of the loathing I show for that movie, this scene of Flint Marco's transformation into Sandman was truly well done. Sandman sees himself on the both sides of the law from time to time, particularly in the Ultimate Universe.

So What Do We Know?

While Spider-Man: Homecoming seems to be bringing in multiple villains in various forms, let's take a look at what IMDb tells us about the cast:

Aaron Davis, a.k.a. The Prowler (played by Donald Glover).

Mac Gargan a.k.a. Scorpion (played by Michael Mando).

Phineas Mason a.k.a. The Tinkerer (played by Michael Chernus).

There is also confirmation of two versions of The Shocker: the Herman Schultz version, (played by Bokeem Woodbine) and the Jackson Brice iteration (played by Logan Marshall-Green). With this second character present, there may be connections to The Enforcers.

With rumors of a Venom solo movie involving Carnage in some capacity, along with the potential Black Cat and Silver Sable rumors, it's hard to know what is going to happen; however, Sony is clearly building something, whether it's around the MCU's Spider-Man or the villains they still have the rights to is unclear. I still think it would make sense to go with the Spider-verse, but we'll need to see more evidence for that.