A Sinister Six movie was first mooted by Sony Pictures before The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released. The 2014 sequel laid the groundwork for the villainous team to assemble in a spin-off set between the second and third movies, and Drew Goddard was tapped to write and direct.
Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker was reportedly set to be the team's sixth member after being forced to join their ranks by a resurrected Norman Osborn (The Amazing Spider-Man 2 cut a scene where his severed head was put on ice).
The Sony Hack revealed several intriguing details, including the fact that the roster considered Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, Vulture, Rhino, Mysterio, Sandman, Scorpia, Black Cat, Venom, and Electro as potential members. It seems Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Six was a key source of inspiration, but the response from fans to the details in those leaked emails wasn't great.
In contrast, conversations between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures about bringing Spider-Man into the MCU generated a lot of excitement, and that eventually took place in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
Now, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day playing in theaters, we have concept art by Victor Martinez (Superman) featuring a key scene from this unmade Sinister Six movie. In the piece, Spidey is shown plummeting to an island below while surrounded by missile fire.
The story was going to take place in a Savage Land-like location, with the web-slinger battling the villainous team as they set out to find Pandora's Box. You can probably see why no one really mourned this movie's demise back in the mid-2010s.
"Sharing with you some concept art I did for an unmade/untitled Spider-Man film from years ago," Martinez wrote on Instagram. "This would’ve been a fun one with lots of villains... 6 to be exact! Shout out to [Constantine Sekeris] who was working on the amazing costume design for Spidey - and to Production Designer [Martin Whist] who’s always fun to work with!"
There's since been some chatter about another take on Sinister Six, but nothing has materialised. Sony took a crack at telling villain-led stories, and even seemed to be building to a six-person team-up based on The Vulture's meeting with the Living Vampire in Morbius.
Fortunately, those projects have since been scrapped after overwhelmingly negative reviews and diminishing box office returns (whatever that version of Sinister Six was, chances are it wouldn't have featured Spider-Man).
In 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, the web-spinner battled Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, and The Lizard. However, he's yet to fight the Sinister Six on screen.
Check out this newly revealed Sinister Six concept art in the Instagram gallery below.