Spider-Man: Homecoming: Who Are the Members of the Sinister Six?

Marvel Comics The original Sinister Six.

The Sinister Six are a major part of the Spider-Man comics, and it seems that Marvel Studios is interested in adapting this on screen, as is implied in Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s first credits scene. So in the comics, who are the members of the Sinister Six? What villains might we see come together to take down Spider-Man in future movies?

This is a complicated question, as there have been at least 14 different Sinister Six groups in the comics over the years. However, the very first group consisted of Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman, and Vulture.

The second group was the same except Kraven the Hunter was replaced by Hobgoblin. In the third group, Sandman was replaced by Gog. So far, with these first three incarnations, Doctor Octopus has always been the leader.

That changed with the fourth grouping, which was formed by Hobgoblin and also included Beetle, Electro, Mysterio, Scorpia, Shocker, and Vulture. The fifth incarnation of the team was led by Sandman, this time in order to get revenge against Doctor Octopus himself. Sandman recruited Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Venom, and Vulture for this purpose.

The sixth group was formed by the Green Goblin, and this one was actually known as the Sinister Twelve. Those sinister twelve were the Green Goblin, Boomerang, Chameleon, Electro, Hammerhead, Hydro-Man, Lizard, Sandman, Shocker, Tombstone, Venom, and Vulture.

The seventh group of the Sinister Six, formed during Civil War, consisted of Doctor Octopus, Grim Reaper, Lizard, Shocker, Trapster, and Vulture. Doctor Octopus at this point was back to being the leader. The eighth group was again led by Doctor Octopus but this time featured Doctor Octopus, Chameleon, Electro, Mysterio, Rhino, and Sandman. This was the first version of the Sinister Six that did not feature Vulture.

Boomerang led the ninth major incarnation of the Sinister Six, with his teammates being Beetle, Living Brain, Overdrive, Shocker, and Speed Demon.

In The Superior Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus leads the Sinister Six while inside Peter Parker’s body, and so the Sinister Six is Spider-Man (being controlled by Doctor Octopus), Electro, Chameleon, Mysterion, Sandman, and Vulture.

Next, Boomerang assembled the largest version of the team yet: the Sinister Sixteen. This group consisted of Boomerang, Owl, Armadillo, Beetle, Bi-Beast, Clown, Cyclone, Human Fly, Kangaroo, Man Mountain Marko, Mirage, Overdrive, Scorcher, Shriek, Speed Demon, Spot, and Squid.

Because that wasn’t nearly enough, in Spider-Man and the X-Men #3, we get the Sinister Sixty-Six. However, this is just a part of a show in which there are holographic stand-ins of Spider-Man villains, and we don’t see all 66. We do, however, see Beetle, Carnage, Demogoblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Hammerhead, Hobgoblin, Gibbon, Green Goblin, Grizzly, Jackal, Jack O’Lantern, Kingpin, Kraven the Hunter, Lizard, Morbius, Mysterio, Puma, Rhino, Ringer, Sandman, Scorpion, Shocker, Tombstone, Venom, Vermin, and Vulture.

After that, we’re back down to six members with a Sinister Six pairing formed by Swarm and also consisting of 8-Ball, Delilah, Killer Shrike, Melter, and Squid.

Finally, there was also a version of the Sinister Six that actually consisted of clones of the X-Men, and so the group was Beast, Iceman, Firestar, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine.

There are a handful of other Sinister Six variations that have appeared over the years, but these are considered to be the main ones.

The end credits of Spider-Man: Homecoming suggest that Scorpion, a.k.a. Mac Gargan, will be involved with this film version of the Sinister Six; at the very least, he is aware that the Sinister Six is being formed, referencing guys on the outside who want to kill Spider-Man. In the comics, Scorpion hasn’t really been in the Sinister Six that often, although he was a part of the Sinister Sixty-Six in Spider-Man and the X-Men, in addition to being in the Sinister Six on Battleworld in Secret Wars.