For a long time it was the most anticipated Marvel movie ever: “The Sinister Six”! In 2013, Sony announced that it would dedicate its own spin-off to the villain group from the ‘Spider-Man’ universe. Drew Goddard (“The Cabin in the Woods”) was hired as director and writer, and at the end of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” the end credits scene hinted at the Six’s composition.
But even though a theatrical release was announced for 2016, it never happened. Sony ultimately decided not to continue the Spidey universe with Andrew Garfield: “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” was canceled, the previous “Sinister Six” was put on the back burner for possible reuse with a new Spidey, but was subsequently never reactivated.
A particularly wild moment we missed on the project is now revealed in a new book. In ‘MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios’, Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales and Gavin Edwards look at Marvel’s success story under Kevin Feige. But they also talk about the projects that were created outside the Marvel mastermind’s influence… or that simply didn’t materialize – like “The Sinister Six.”
Many myths have surrounded the project for years, some of which were confirmed by the so-called Sony hack, in which thousands of internal emails from the Hollywood studio were made public. So we already knew that the Sinister Six actually team up in their film to declare war on their common enemy Spider-Man. These include Rhino, played by Paul Giamatti, as well as Dane DeHaan as Green Goblin.
But it also became known that the Sinister Six created such a threat in their attempt to kill Spider-Man that they themselves realized they were on the wrong track. Ultimately, the villains must team up with Spider-Man to save the world. According to old rumors, the so-called ‘Savage Land’ played an important role – and this is exactly where the new information comes in. Because here might have been the wildest Marvel scene of all time…
Dino rides through the wild land
Because according to information in the new book ‘MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios’, Goddard’s script for ‘The Sinister Six’ actually had a sequence that takes the characters to the ‘Savage Land’ known from the comics. This is a hidden, prehistoric place where dinosaurs still dominate. And that’s exactly what would have played an important role: a T-Rex! But it gets even wilder. So Spider-Man himself should be riding a T-Rex.
Besides, the Sinister Six and Spider-Man must work together to stop the creature Gog, who comes from a parallel dimension. This was brought into the world by Doctor Octopus as a weapon against Spidey. But when Gog reveals his own will and does not want to serve the Six, but would rather rule them and the entire world, Harry Osborn aka Green Goblin makes the decision to ask his old friend Peter Parker aka Spider-Man for help.
That was the plan: lots of megastars for the Sinister Six?
We already know from the Sony hack that a lot of thought went into the casting. They wanted a renowned Hollywood star especially for Doc Ock. Sean Penn, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey and Denzel Washington were reportedly candidates. In 2014, numerous other names were already circulating – such as Idris Elba, Jackie Chan and “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston. All roles must be cast prominently.
As is known, the project eventually fell apart. We will never see Goddard’s The Sinister Six. But Sony is reportedly still keeping the option open to make a movie with the title at some point. The current “Spider-Man” films starring Tom Holland have already teased that characters like Scorpion (Michael Mando), Vulture (Michael Keaton) or Venom (Tom Hardy) could team up to create their version of the found villain group. . And who knows… Maybe one day someone will dig out the T-Rex scene – albeit in a different form. Finally, since 2022, Marvel comics even have their own T-Rex Spidey variant (name: Pter Ptarker aka Spider-Rex).