With the end of the Morbius trailer featuring a surprise appearance from Adrian Toomes A.K.A. Vulture, it became official: not only is the MCU linked to Sony’s Spider-Man universe, but both are likely building to the Sinister Six. There are still a lot of unknowns regarding the deal between Marvel and Sony at this point, including what it means for the MCU Phase 4, but the putting together of Vulture and Morbius hints at a villainous team-up to come.

The Sinister Six, a collection of Spider-Man’s greatest villains teaming up to take down the web-crawler, has been a prominent part of Spider-Man comic adventures for decades and has been similarly preeminent in Sony’s plans for the character on the big screen. Back when Andrew Garfield was playing Spider-Man, Sony made sure to litter The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with easter eggs referencing the team while Drew Goddard was selected to direct a Sinister Six movie.

Once Marvel and Sony put together an agreement to bring Spider-Man into the MCU, plans for the Sinister Six on the big screen went on the backburner. However, as Spider-Man’s onscreen foes began to pile up in numbers in recent years, desires for a cinematic take on this group began to resurge, including from folks involved in bringing these movies to the screen. With the Morbius trailer showing villains teaming up and bridging together two universes rife with characters who could be Sinister Six members, the time has never looked more ripe for this group to make their feature film debut. Who could be on this team? Well, there are several options ranging from MCU characters to ones who have only appeared in Sony’s Marvel movies, all united by a common tendency for supervillain activity.

Vulture

The first adversary Spider-Man faced off against in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Adrian Toomes A.K.A. Vulture (Michael Keaton) is also serving as the first direct link between the MCU and Sony’s Marvel Universe. However, it’s doubtful this already prolific antagonist’s story is done with Morbius, and his role there will likely be setup for another, bigger outing. Look for Vulture to be a key figure for the inevitable movie version of the Sinister Six. The groundwork for Toomes being a part of an anti-Spider-Man supervillain team is already there thanks to his fierce rivalry with Spider-Man, as well as his openness to working with other supervillains like Morbius or Shocker. Plus, it would also serve as a homage to the very first comic book assemblage of the Sinister Six, which featured Vulture as one of its members.

Scorpion

Another carry-over from the MCU Spider-Man adventures, the human alter-ego of The Scorpion, Mac Gargan, made his feature film debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming portrayed by Michael Mando. Appearing briefly in the film itself, Gargan returned in Spider-Man: Homecoming’s mid-credits scene disfigured from a previous tussle with Spider-Man and eager to get some revenge. This sequence features an interaction between Gargan and Adrian Toomes, in the process establishing a connection between these two that could come in handy should Toomes need to fill up the Sinister Six roster. Such an occasion could prove to be the perfect opportunity for Gargan to take on his supervillain form of The Scorpion for the first time in cinematic history.

Kraven the Hunter

Unlike the last two picks, Kraven the Hunter - a big game hunter who sees Spider-Man as the ultimate trophy - hasn’t been seen on film, either in an MCU or Sony release, yet. But judging by the passion key behind-the-scenes figures have for the character, it’s only a matter of time before he makes his cinematic debut. Sony put a Kraven the Hunter solo film into development back in August 2018 while Spider-Man: Far From Home director Jon Watts stated last July that Kraven was his choice to be the villain of the next Spider-Man movie. Whether he first shows up in his own movie or as a Spider-Man adversary, Kraven the Hunter is coming to the silver screen in the near future. When he does, this original member of the Sinister Six comic book roster should be an obvious choice to join the film version of the Sinister Six.

Venom

Though not a member of the original Sinister Six comic book line-up (though he was a member of the fifth incarnation of the team), it seems inevitable that Venom will make his way into a movie version of the Sinister Six team. At this point, Tom Hardy’s take on the character is popular enough that leaving him out of the Sinister Six would be like leaving Iron Man off to the side for the first Avengers movie. The chance to see Venom face off against Spider-Man just on his own is a massively appealing marketing hook, let alone having him join forces with five other villains to take down the web-crawler. Perhaps, now that of the confusion over what universe Venom occupies are cleared up, he’ll even get his spider-shaped chest emblem back.

Morbius

While all the focus of the trailer for his first movie went to the surprise appearance of Adrian Toomes, it cannot be forgotten that Morbius is also now a part of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as Spider-Man’s rogue gallery. With those qualities established, it’s likely that Sony will want to fold in their only other solo movie anti-hero into this Sinister Six line-up. Not only is it a smart move from a marketing perspective but it also offers up rich storytelling possibilities. Specifically, juxtaposing the supernatural powers of Morbius against his fellow Sinister Six team members that rely heavily on man-made machinery (i.e. gigantic mechanically wings) could make for interesting in-team drama.

Wild Card

Who could be the sixth and final member of the first-ever film version of the Sinister Six? Well, that’s where things get murky. Aside from Bokeem Woodbine’s Shocker and the now-deceased Mysterio, the MCU Spider-Man movies haven’t introduced any other Spider-Man baddies that could join the team (though the likes of Chameleon and Prowler have been teased). To boot, Sony hasn’t scheduled any other solo live-action movies in their Marvel universe beyond Morbius, so we can’t turn to their upcoming schedule for clues on who could join this team of nefarious foes. Perhaps this line-up will turn to other members of the original Sinister Six line-up like Electro, Sandman and Doctor Octopus, though Marvel’s dedication to exploring Spider-Man villains who’ve never been put to film puts the presence of any of those three characters in doubt.

Barring a reveal that Mysterio isn’t dead after all, perhaps the clues lie in solo Sony movies that haven’t gotten off the ground yet for a peek into a potential final Sinister Six member. Perhaps either of the two lead characters (Silver Sable and Black Cat) from the canceled Silver & Black movie could round out the team? After all, it’s doubtful that a 2020 version of the Sinister Six would be exclusively male while the anti-hero personalities of characters like Silver Sable and Black Cat would fit in with the similarly antagonistic but complex personalities of potential Sinister Six members like Vulture and Venom. Then again, perhaps a totally unexpected choice, like Rhino or Lizard, end up being the ones that round out the team. Spider-Man’s rogue gallery of villains is deep and offers plenty of choices for this seemingly inevitable MCU take on the Sinister Six.

Next: Morbius Movie Trailer Breakdown & MCU Story Reveals

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