The Sinister Six are actually a group of supervillains appearing in Spider-Man comic books published by none other than Marvel Comics. They are drawn from Spider-Man’s list of enemies. The original incarnation of the group was organized by Doctor Octopus and consisted of himself, Vulture, Electro, Mysterio, Sandman, and Kraven the Hunter. The Sinister Six have since appeared in multiple other forms of media, including animated series and video games.
With a legacy all their own that goes far beyond menacing Spider-Man and into the wider Marvel Universe, the Sinister Six are some of the most iconic villains in Marvel Comics and if they make it to the MCU as appears to be the case, they will represent the first substantial supervillain team-up from across multiple movies that got assembled.
The six villains decide to take turns laying traps for Spider-Man, forming a gauntlet of threats they are sure will defeat the Wall-Crawler. But in true Spidey fashion, he takes them all down one by one. Since that first fateful tale, the Sinister Six have come together numerous times over the years, usually under the leadership of Doctor Octopus, though there have been other iterations led by villains such as Hobgoblin, the Beetle, Swarm, and Miles Morales’ uncle Aaron Davis when he was operating as Iron Spider. For a team of villains who have often butted heads, the Sinister Six maintained a remarkably solid line-up through their early days, making only one major change by inducting the Hobgoblin following the death of Kraven in the story Kraven’s Last Hunt. That is the history of it.
Sinister Six Members Over Time
- Founding Members
- Doctor Octopus
- Electro
- Kraven the Hunter
- Mysterio
- Sandman
- Vulture
- Later Or Temporary Members
- Hobgoblin
- Gog
- Beetle
- Scorpion
- Shocker
- Kraven the Hunter 2
- Venom
- Grim Reaper
- Lizard
- Trapster
- Chameleon
- Rhino
- Boomerang
- Living Brain
- Overdrive
- Speed Demon
Sources: YouTube Variant Comics, Nerdist.