Nobody Noticed That The Sinister Six Already Exist In The MCU

We've never gotten a big-screen version of one of Spidey's most famous challenges: the nefarious Sinister Six. Or have we? The Sinister Six might already exist in the MCU, even if you've never noticed.

If you're not familiar with them, the Sinister Six have a history with Spidey that dates back all the way to 1964. While every issue advanced the superhero soap opera that was the Marvel Universe back then, the publishing schedule was punctuated by special oversized issues that, because they were meant to be a once-a-year spectacular, were called Annuals. Across the street at DC Comics, Annuals were pretty much just big reprints designed to get "classic" stories into the hands of readers who had missed them the first time around, often built around a theme.

At Marvel, things were done a little differently. While their Annuals did feature reprints of key stories, the lead story in every issue was not only all-new material, it was also something meant to be a pretty big deal. The Fantastic Four Annuals gave readers an origin for Doctor Doom, a war between Atlantis and the surface world, and the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, an oversized epic that guest-starred the entire Marvel Universe circa 1965, including Stan Lee and Jack Kirby themselves.

For the first Spider-Man Annual, the idea that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko came up with was one of the simplest ways to make a story feel important: if one supervillain could make a regular issue seem like a big deal, then why not throw in a few more? In fact, why not take virtually every Spider-Man villain who had been created over the past year and throw them all against Spidey in one massive all-out brawl?

When it hit the stands in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, "The Sinister Six" clocked in at 41 pages, and contained some of Lee and Ditko's best work ever. The idea was simple: after escaping from prison, Doctor Octopus gathered five villains who wanted revenge on Spider-Man Electro, the Vulture, Mysterio, the Sandman and Kraven the Hunter. After figuring out that Spider-Man had some kind of connection to them, Doc Ock kidnapped Betty Brant and Aunt May, leaving behind clues that would lead Spidey from one villain to the next. It was basically a scavenger hunt, but with a strong chance of being mauled by leopards. Keep watching the video to see how literally nobody noticed that the Sinister Six already exist in the MCU!

#SinisterSix #Spiderman #MCU

Who are the Sinister Six? | 0:15
The original lineup | 1:36
The legacy of the Sinister Six | 2:48
Sinister Six Cinema | 4:04
Superior cinematic foes | 5:06
A rogues' gallery | 6:10
Hiding in plain sight | 7:51
The Cinematic Sinister Six | 8:58