MCU: What villains can make up the Sinister Six after ‘Far From Home’?

Tyler Callaway

Credit: Sony and Marvel Studios for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) — Adrian Toomes/Vulture (Michael Keaton) Photo by Chuck Zlotnick

After the jaw-dropping events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, is the Sinister Six coming for Peter Parker. And if so, who would the members be? Spoilers ahead.

The mid-credits scene of Spider-Man: Far From Home definitely took the cake for most shocking in the MCU so far, even beating out Ant-Man and The Wasp’s. Peter’s identity was revealed to the world after Mysterio’s contingency plan was activated.

This was something nobody saw coming, and it came while his rogue’s gallery has started expanding at a distressing rate. Many villains in the current MCU want to see Spider-Man’s head strung up in a web, so his secret identity is incredibly valuable.

Reasons are scarce for why the writers and director would choose to out Peter so early in his career, as he’s only two solo films in. This changes the entire dynamic of his arc, and it will be the first time we see a live-action Spider-Man without a secret identity.

It’s only happened twice in the modern era of the comics, once in Civil War, and which was quickly reversed by magic, and again when he revealed it to J. Jonah Jameson after the two had a heart-to-heart and felt he could trust him. Jameson told Norman Osborne but, before anything else could further develop, Spider-Man dealt with the Goblin.

So, what’s in store for Peter in the Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel?

There’s only one good reason to reveal his identity, and that is to have all of his enemies come after him all at once

There are enough established characters from the comics in the current MCU to form the team, but some of their backstories have yet to be fully realized. There are also so many heavy hitters from Spider-Man lore that could be introduced.

Who is currently available to fill the roster of the Sinister Six so far?

Vulture is slowed by Spider-Man’s webbing in Columbia Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN™: HOMECOMING.

Vulture

Two great things came from Spider-Man: Homecoming, Michael Keaton’s performance, and Adrian Toomes surviving the film. Somewhat of a twist due to the MCU’s blood-lust for killing off film antagonists.

More than likely to be the leader of the team, Toomes is one of the founding members of the Six from the comics and was an active member in almost every incarnation.

He is also the only villain to know Peter’s secret, but is reluctant to give it up to anyone who asks. Obviously, it doesn’t matter now though.

Adrian Toomes in the MCU actually has a bit of respect for Peter, after he saved his daughter’s life and his own, so it makes his motivation to start a villain super team against the wall-crawler weak. However, Peter is the reason he’s in prison and the reason why his wife and daughter have alienated him, so there is still disdain to be had.

Toomes feels he owes Peter a debt — Liz and his life for Peter’s secret. Now that the secret is out though, it’s out of his hands.

When Vulture survived the end of Homecoming, the fan base knew what that was building up to. This was the first piece to the Sinister Six puzzle. We just didn’t know that it would get put together this quickly.

Credit: Sony and Marvel Studios

Scorpion

Scorpion was one of the more entertaining side character’s from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Michael Mando brought a lot of energy to this borderline cameo role and painted a picture for what kind of psychopath Peter could be dealing with in the near future.

Putting someone’s head into a dryer is a pretty specific idea that would come into someone’s mind and Mando delivered it with sadistic glee.

Scorpion is always one of the undervalued villains in Spider-Man lore, taking a back seat to guys with a similar schtick like Lizard. He is the perfect type of filler for an ensemble like the Sinister Six.

Mac Gargan in the MCU seems to already have a well-documented résumé and a clear-cut vendetta against Spider-Man after the fight on the ferry.

He and Vulture have a past relationship working together in heists, and he is an obvious choice to appear in a Sinister Six line-up when the time comes to form the team.

Mando is sure the bring the same unsettling charisma in a larger role in future installments. While he’ll probably be more of a benchwarmer, he’ll be a strong foe to face, even if he’ll never be the main antagonist in a film.

Credit: Sony and Marvel Studios for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) — Herman Schultz (Bokeem Woodbine)

Shocker

Flying even lower under the radar, Herman Schultz is the MCU’s second Shocker to grace the streets of New York after the short-lived Jackson Brice passed the mantle onto him at the behest of Adrian Toomes.

The Shocker character has always been a steady presence in the comics and one of the most consistent thorns in Spider-Man’s side. While never more than a side character, Shocker has his own charm that endears him to many fans.

Portrayed by Bokeem Woodbine, he wasn’t given a lot of time to stretch the legs of his character before being defeated and arrested.

Schultz is loyal to Toomes from his days as an employee at Bestman Salvage. He remained loyal to Toomes even during their illegal escapades and became somewhat of a lackey more than freethinker.

If Scorpion is a benchwarmer, Shocker is probably a reserve, sitting behind the bench in street clothes. He won’t offer much to the team besides a healthy annoyance to Spider-Man, but he’ll serve his role for the short time Peter allows him to.

The Shocker was never a member of the Sinister Six in the comics. He was, however, on a few of the other spinoff teams like the Sinister Seven, so this would be his first time as an official member of the team.

Shocker is taking the place of Electro on the original team. This is probably best since that Jamie Foxx taste hasn’t been rinsed from fans’ mouths just yet.

Jake Gyllenhaal is Mysterio in Columbia Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN: ™ FAR FROM HOME.

Mysterio

The main antagonist of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Mysterio was easily the best part of the film and the main catalyst for what will bring the Sinister Six together after revealing Peter’s identity to the world in a contingency plan.

Jake Gyllenhaal was such a force in the film and, while the character could be considered one-dimensional and a stereotypical movie villain in an average actor’s hands, Gyllenhaal’s acting ability made Quentin Beck so much more.

Going into the film, it was expected that Beck would be around for future installments of the franchise but, in the exact opposite of the twist from Homecoming, he instead died at the end of the film.

However, William Ginter Riva, one of Beck’s lead crewmen escaped the operations takedown in what is more than likely a deliberate set-up by the writers and director to pass the Mysterio mantle onto him.

The character will be lacking without Gyllenhaal’s presence, but there may still be a way to bring him back for sequels. Riva has the ability to generate the Mysterio hologram with Beck’s face and body, haunting Peter with his memory.

This is a great way to bring both Gyllenhall and the character back into the MCU, even after the characters death. The impact that it would have on Peter would be something somewhat traumatic after the already difficult positions of killing his first foe, even if it’s indeliberate.

No offense to actor Peter Billingsley who plays Riva, but true justice can’t be given to the character without Gyllenhaal’s Beck. But even if it is Riva behind the fishbowl, fans will likely take it, as opposed to never hearing from the iconic villain again.

Chameleon

Credit: Marvel Studios

These next two roster spots are up in the air, mainly because we don’t know for sure if they’re actually going to become the villains from the comics.

Numan Acar played one of Nick Fury’s associates named Dmitri in the film and, while he was not credited with the name Dmitri Smerdyakov (who is the Chameleon in the comics), the speculation was still made. When speculation about the character’s name intensified, CinemaBlend directly asked director Jon Watts about this to which he replied:

"“Well, Dmitri in the film works for Nick Fury and I think anyone who works for Nick Fury, they certainly have a mysterious past. We’re not specifically saying that he’s [Chameleon]… but we’re not not saying.”"

So at the least, they’re leaving that as an option for the future. And this wouldn’t be the first time, as Marvel Studios has left the door open for a number of possible characters, both villains and heroes.

With the reveal that Nick Fury and Maria Hill were Skrulls at the end of the movie, it leaves you to wonder if Dmitri was also a Skrull, as well as if he may go rogue in the future and this is where Chameleon’s shapeshifting ability comes from in the MCU.

Dmitri’s role was so small that it’s hard to tell exactly what his motivations would be. Peter never had a negative reaction with him, so there’s no real reason for him to join the Sinister Six, but the speculation remains.

Motivation can be given in a sequel.

Credit: Sony and Marvel Studios for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) — Aaron Davis (Donald Glover)

Prowler

This is another case of “maybe they will, maybe they won’t.”

Donald Glover’s Aaron Davis was viewed by most fans as nothing more than a tip of the hat for the campaign to cast Glover as Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man franchise that inevitably went to Andrew Garfield.

It seems like a waste of a talented actor if this was the only role he was given, and an interesting character like Davis should be fleshed out more. This iteration of Prowler is fan favorite Spider-Man Miles Morales’ uncle, who was heavily featured in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well.

Aaron Davis in the MCU seems to be nothing more than a low-level street thug though, who doesn’t have any of the abilities that the Prowler from the comics had and shows no real motivation to take down Spider-Man, even going as far as to help him in Homecoming.

But Aaron Davis is already being called the Prowler based off of the analysis given to Peter from Karen. Perhaps he’ll become the persona fully off-screen and, while he has no vendetta against Spider-Man, perhaps he is blackmailed or threatened into helping the Sinister Six.

This would be a great way to introduce Miles Morales. Could Vulture, Shocker, and Scorpion pay their former associate a visit and threaten to harm his nephew and his family if he doesn’t help them?

If Donald Glover’s appearance in the MCU was nothing more than a cameo, it would short of a crime to the fan base.

Villains Who Could be Introduced

Credit: Marvel Comics

Chameleon and Prowler are both up in the air and may never take on their supervillain personas, but the six former are the only members of Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery we’ve been introduced to, so far.

If Chameleon and Prowler are scratches, who could be introduced in the sequel to fill the rest of the Sinister Six?