No Way Home’s Mysterio Return Would Have Given The MCU Its Sinister Six

Concept art has revealed Mysterio almost returned in Spider-Man: No Way Home – and he would have given the MCU their Sinister Six. Spider-Man has always had one of the best rogues’ galleries in comics, and in 1964 Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Amazing Spider-Man annual saw six of his villains come together as a team for the first time. Over the decades, they’ve become one of Marvel’s most prominent supervillain teams, going through numerous iterations, and even morphing into an Avengers-level threat at one point.

Sony began plans to bring the Sinister Six to the big screen back in 2013, and they intended The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to serve as a launchpad for the spinoff, which they hoped would be the beginning of a Spider-Man cinematic universe to rival the MCU. Unfortunately, the studio’s attempts to integrate this into The Amazing Spider-Man 2 left the film feeling singularly confused and disjointed, and it proved underwhelming. By 2015, Sony had struck a new deal with Marvel Studios to bring a rebooted Spider-Man into the MCU – but the studio never forgot the Sinister Six, and there have been constant rumblings since that something new is in the works. When marketing began for Spider-Man: No Way Home, attentive viewers noticed five supervillains were associated with the film: Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, Green Goblin, and the Lizard. This naturally prompted speculation the film would feature a sixth mystery villain.

Recently-released concept art for No Way Home reveals Mysterio was considered for the film as well, rounding out the Sinister Six. It’s unclear whether this would be a Mysterio from the multiverse, the one who was killed in Spider-Man: Far From Home brought forward in time, or even the same villain revealing his death was faked (as many theorized after first watching Spider-Man: Far From Home). Whatever the case may be, though, he was apparently considered for the final battle on the Statue of Liberty, going head-to-head with Doctor Strange himself. Thus the MCU, and Sony, would have had their Sinister Six at last.

While it would undoubtedly have been cool to see the Sinister Six brought to life at last, in reality, Spider-Man: No Way Home simply didn’t need Mysterio. The film already risked having too many characters, with five villains, three Spider-Men between Holland, Maguire, and Garfield, Doctor Strange, and Tom Holland’s supporting cast of friends and family. What’s more, Mysterio comes with very different baggage from the others; he’s driven by vanity and greed, meaning there’s absolutely no way for Spider-Man and his friends to cure him. Glimpses of Mysterio alive and well would have even risked damaging the denouement of the previous movie, as, if he’d been seen by anybody, Peter Parker would have been immediately cleared of killing him.

It remains to be seen whether the Sinister Six will ever appear – either in the MCU or, perhaps more likely now, in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoffs. As exciting as the prospect of the Sinister Six may be, that number of characters should only be brought together with the greatest of care. It’s a lesson Sony surely learned from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and undoubtedly even earlier with Spider-Man 3. So Spider-Man: No Way Home ditched the Sinister Six – and was all the better for doing so.

About The Author

Thomas Bacon
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Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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