Sony Pictures has been attempting to get a Sinister Six movie off the ground for years now. The idea first came up before The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released, with the 2014 sequel laying the groundwork for the villainous team to assemble in a spin-off set between the second and third movies.
Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker was reportedly going to be the sixth member of the team after being fooled into joining their ranks by a resurrected Norman Osborn (The Amazing Spider-Man 2 cut a scene with his severed head being put on ice).
The Sony Hack revealed some 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.
The response from fans to the details from those leaked emails wasn't great, with most zeroing in on conversations between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures to bring Spider-Man into the MCU. That eventually happened in 2016's Captain America: Civil War.
That was the same year Sinister Six was supposed to be released in theaters, and Drew Goddard had previously stepped away from Netflix's Daredevil to pen the movie's screenplay.
Talking to Variety about Project Hail Mary, he reflected on the unmade project when he said, "I had a big Spider-Man movie about the Sinister Six go down because of the Sony hack. My office was right on the lot, and I saw the FBI swarm in and the helicopters fly over the studio."
"I was sad about it, but there was literally nothing I could do to change the course of events," Goddard noted. "I suppose it was better than if they hadn’t liked the script."
There are lots of conflicting reports about what Sinister Six looked like, including Doctor Octopus replacing the Green Goblin as the movie's main antagonist (Pandora's Box may have also factored into the story). Ultimately, Spider-Man and the other baddies—portrayed in a sympathetic light—may have teamed up against Otto Octavius.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Goddard was asked what his take on The Matrix 5 looks like. The filmmaker is attached to write and direct the movie and shared, "I can’t say too much, because we’re still in the stage of writing it. I need to give myself space to find the best story. I think the approach will be the way I approach anything, which is, do I love it?"
"And I love what Lana and Lilly Wachowski did with those movies. They mean so much to me and I feel like they’ve had a profound impact on my creative voice," he continued. "I take this responsibility very seriously. I feel the weight of wanting to do right by the fans, wanting to do right by the creators and wanting to do right for myself as a fan."
Asked if Keanu Reeves and the original cast will return, Goddard said, "I can’t speak to that," and was pushed on why he thinks 2021's The Matrix Resurrections didn't strike a chord with fans.
"I don’t know. It certainly resonated with me. When I watched the movie, I was deeply moved," he noted. "It may be the most emotional of the of the four. I know it got caught up in the COVID times, and it was when Warner Bros. was putting everything on streaming."
After movies like Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter bombed, Sony has put its live-action Spider-Verse plans on hold. The studio is mulling over a reboot, but currently appears focused on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spider-Noir, and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.