THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Star Andrew Garfield Opens Up On Drew Goddard's Canceled SINISTER SIX Movie

Sinister Six was supposed to be released between The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 3, and Andrew Garfield has now opened up on Drew Goddard's scrapped plans for the project. Read on for further details...

By JoshWilding - Sep 13, 2021 10:09 AM EST

Filed Under: Sinister Six

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was definitely a bit of a mess, though itdid end with the stage being set for Harry Osborn to assemble his own Sinister Six. We'd have followed their story in a Sinister Six movie written and directed by Drew Goddard, though Norman was going to somehow be resurrected.

That would explain a deleted scene from the sequel with his head being preserved in a jar, but we only know vague details about Goddard's plans from the Sony Hack emails. It sounds like Peter Parker would have learned that his blood could be used to bring back the dead, with The Amazing Spider-Man 3 resurrecting both Gwen Stacy and her father, Captain George Stacy.

It all sounds a little weird, as do the reports that Spidey was likely going to join the team at some point. Now, though, Andrew Garfield has finally opened up about the cancelled project while talking to Collider.

"I don't know how close it got, but I definitely had a few meetings, and it was really exciting. I've got to say, because I love Drew so much, and I love Cabin in the Woods, and the other stuff that he's made," the actor says. "We just got on like a house on fire. I loved his vision, he's so unique and odd and off-kilter and unconventional in his creative choices. So that was definitely a fun couple of months, but life. It would have been cool. Maybe one day he'll get to do it, but it would've been cool."

We've yet to see the Sinister Six assemble on the big screen, as Sony Pictures put those plans to one side when they decided to team up with Marvel Studios. It looks a lot like Spider-Man: No Way Home will feature an interdimensional version of the group, though it's hard to believe the concept won't one day be revisited. We just hope Spidey is there to face them if and when that happens.

Do you wish we'd seen this version of Sinister Six way back when?

Click on the "Next" button below for a breakdown of what
we know about The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and Sinister Six!

10. The Sinister Six Recruits Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 wrapped up with the reveal that Harry Osborn and Gustav Friers had managed to get their hands on technology capable of outfitting a team of villains. That would have meant skipping the origin stories of the characters, which was an odd decision when they're not just bad guys in fancy suits.

Sinister Six was going to spin out of the events of this sequel, with Drew Goddard's film expected to feature Doctor Octopus recruiting Spidey to his team under false pretences before his true colors were revealed.

The team was set to battle the alien Gog in the Savage Land, with the MacGuffin of this version the actual Pandora's Box.

Another idea was to have Spider-Man don the Venom symbiote to ask for this group's help in stopping Carnage, though that idea appeared to be scrapped after the alien costume was cut from The Amazing Spider-Man 2's final sequence showing what was hidden in the bowels of Oscorp.

9. Norman Osborn Returns

Norman Osborn died in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, setting Harry Osborn on the path to becoming the Green Goblin.

It was a new direction to take the characters in, as it's always been Norman who first became the Goblin in the comics. There were, however, future plans for Chris Cooper's version of this iconic villain.

In a scene cut from the sequel, it was to be revealed that Gustav Friers was keeping Norman's head in Oscorp with a plan to bring him back from the dead. How he was supposed to grow a body isn't clear, though there have been other hints when it comes to the means of his resurrection.

We'll touch on those later, but it's likely this Goblin would have resembled his Ultimate counterpart.

8. Spider-Man Resurrects The Dead

Full details have never been shared about Marc Webb's plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, but the premise of the film was Peter Parker finding a way to use his blood to resurrect his loved ones.

Denis Leary had signed up to return as Captain George Stacy, and this was likely going to explain Norman Osborn's miraculous return as well. It appears there would have been a catch, and these previously dead friends and allies would have come back Pet Sematary-style.

It's hard to believe this was in the works, but it's been confirmed by multiple sources.

There's a chance this would have borrowed ideas from "The Clone Saga" storyline, but it's unclear whether this meant there were further plans for Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy.

7. Ambitious Plans To Outdo Marvel Studios With Sinister Six

With Marvel Studios finding the success that Sony Pictures desperately craved with their own Marvel characters, Sony Hack emails revealed ambitious plans to outdo the competition.

With Doctor Strange on the horizon, Sony execs believed that stealing Tom Hardy from Marvel (the actor was then among the top picks to play the Sorcerer Supreme) was their path to success. The plan was to cast him as Sandman, and make the villain even bigger than in Spider-Man 3.

"He's gonna storm through London at the end like God-f***ing-zilla," read one email. "That is not purple prose. He's going to be AS TALL AS A SKYSCRAPER in the third act of the movie. What does Dr. Strange have? Magic tricks? F*** you, magic tricks — we've got a skyscraper Tom Hardy knocking down buildings!!!!"

That's a real email, FYI. Crazy.

6. Emma Stone Returns...As Gwen Stacy Carnage!

Emma Stone was still a rising star in 2014 when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was released, so it's easy enough to understand why Sony was keen to keep her a regular part of this franchise.

This was only ever a rumor, but if true, the actress was going to return as a Gwen Stacy combined with the Carnage symbiote. That's what happened in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, and it was controversial there, so we can't say for sure how fans might have responded to this being in a film.

There were conflicting reports about how this was supposed to tie into the Venom film being developed by Alex Kurtzman, but Spidey contending with his girlfriend being part-human, part-monster might have been fun to watch.

It's unclear whether Stone was on board with this direction for her character.

5. Sinister Six's A-List Cast

It seems Sinister Six went through a number of iterations, but there was one thing every version had in common: an A-List cast Sony hoped would blow away the competition.

One version of the team was to have featured Spider-Man fighting alongside Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Sandman, Mysterio, and Black Cat. Idris Elba, Francis McDormand, Bryan Cranston and Jackie Chan were wanted for undisclosed roles, as were Woody Harrelson, Channing Tatum, Joel Edgerton, and Jason Clarke.

Chris O'Dowd, Michael Peña, Seth Rogen, and Danny McBride were among the actors the studio hoped would bring their comedic skills to the spinoff.

Whether Sony could actually sign any of them up was never revealed.

4. Marc Webb's Final Amazing Spider-Man Film

It's a little known fact that despite Sony announcing plans to release The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man 4, Marc Webb was only going to direct the former.

The filmmaker planned to take on a consultant role with the fourth film, handing directing duties to another filmmaker. At the time, it was widely speculated online that Drew Goddard might make the leap to the main franchise after working on Sinister Six for the studio.

That would have been a solid enough pick, but it's interesting that Webb was getting ready to move on.

He was clearly happy enough to finish his trilogy, but it seems Webb was ready to leave the franchise to be taken in a new direction once he was done with that.

3. Felicity Jones Suits Up As Black Cat

Felicity Jones had a bit part in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but there were future plans for "Felicia" in this Marvel Universe.

The name is a dead giveaway; Jones was going to don a catsuit to play Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, in Sinister Six and The Amazing Spider-Man 3, potentially serving as a new ally and love interest to Peter Parker.

It's likely she was in Oscorp with a plan of stealing that tech from Harry Osborn, but when this series was cancelled, so were plans to bring Black Cat to the silver screen. Silver & Black was later developed, of course, but that was not set in this world and there was no mention of Jones being sought after to reprise the role. Now, it too has been scrapped.

It's a shame, because she would have been a great pick!

2. The Spider-Slayers

The Spider-Slayers are rumored to be part of Marvel's Spider-Man 3, a fitting decision if Peter Parker is on the run after being framed for Quentin Beck's murder.

Early rumors for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, however, also claimed that there were plans for these robotic enemies of the web-slinger. It's no great surprise when B.J. Novak played Alistair Smythe in the second film, though it seems doubtful J. Jonah Jameson was going to be involved given his absence from this iteration of Spider-Man's world.

There was clearly an overarching plan for this series, and Smythe sending these robots after Peter at the behest of Oscorp would have been a logical next step.

We can't say we're heartbroken this didn't happen, but it might have been fun to watch.

1. Crossover With The MCUs

The Sony Hack emails made it clear that Sony was keen on the idea of crossing over with the MCU, and rumors persisted during both of The Amazing Spider-Man films that there were plans to include Avengers Tower as an Easter Egg.

An MCU crossover was high up on the list of the studio's priorities, and an early hope was that Captain America could appear in the threequel, setting up a possible appearance in Civil War.

As these talks progressed, and Andrew Garfield fell out of favor with Sony brass in Japan, it became clear Marvel Studios wanted to reboot the web-slinger. However, it's hard not to wonder what it might have looked like for this version of Spidey to join the MCU.

Then again, that reboot is probably for the best all things considered!

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41 Comments

1 2

Menks123 - 9/13/2021, 10:01 AM

I really hope Marvel brings Goddard into the MCU again.

He is a wickedly talented writer/director

Repian - 9/13/2021, 10:10 AM

@Menks123 - Drew Goddard for Midnight Sons

TheLobster - 9/13/2021, 10:31 AM

@Repian - yessssssss

KWilly - 9/13/2021, 11:08 AM

@Menks123 - Dare I say...

Menks123 - 9/13/2021, 11:43 AM

@KWilly - Yessssssssssssss

@Repian - He would work so well with that kind of dark/horror theme. Cabin in the Woods shows that, good call!

Kozmik - 9/14/2021, 11:07 AM

@Menks123 - "Again!?' When was the first time?

ModHaterSLADE - 9/13/2021, 10:05 AM

Wouldn't mind a Sinister Six heist flick.

dracula - 9/13/2021, 10:07 AM

There are groups of villains who can work in solo stories

The Rogues
Dark Avengers
Thunderbolts
Suicide Squad
Secret Six

Sinister Six is not one of them

DalekCraigWasson - 9/13/2021, 10:39 AM

@dracula - What about the Superior Foes of Spider-Man version?

dracula - 9/13/2021, 10:42 AM

@DalekCraigWasson - havent heard of it, but based on a quick image search, seems like something perfect for JAmes Gunn

DalekCraigWasson - 9/13/2021, 10:48 AM

@dracula - It's technically a "Sinister Six" story but they are all the loveable loser B-listers and it's part of the joke that they don't even have six of them, lol.

YonnyLayna - 9/13/2021, 5:42 PM

@dracula - all the team works as along as the writters know which characters bring in.

MovieMonster - 9/13/2021, 10:08 AM

Goddard is talented and from what I’ve heard, he had a good script for an S6 movie. Too bad TASM 2 was a mess and it hurt the prospects of this movie. Well, it seems we’re finally getting a variation of the villainous team in No Way Home.

LSHF - 9/13/2021, 10:50 AM

@MovieMonster - I really enjoyed his "Bad Times at the El Royale". It had some, some Quentin T.-type violence, and was very entertaining.

It's a shame it didn't even make enough to match the budget (it got close).

dracula - 9/13/2021, 10:09 AM

Imagine if he hadnt shit talked his own movie. Would spiderman still be the in mcu, would Andrew be the mcu spiderman

LSHF - 9/13/2021, 10:50 AM

@dracula - Good questions with answers I don't like to think about! Stop it!!! ; - )

THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 9/13/2021, 10:09 AM

No Way Home is essentially the Sinister Six movie. Kind of weird how it's going to be using villains from previous Spider-Man movies to do it though.

KnifeWasTooSlow - 9/13/2021, 10:13 AM

"HE'S GONNA STORM THROUGH LONDON AT THE END LIKE GOD-F***ING-ZILLA. THAT IS NOT PURPLE PROSE. HE'S GOING TO BE AS TALL AS A SKYSCRAPER IN THE THIRD ACT OF THE MOVIE. WHAT DOES DR. STRANGE HAVE? MAGIC TRICKS? F*** YOU, MAGIC TRICKS — WE'VE GOT A SKYSCRAPER TOM HARDY KNOCKING DOWN BUILDINGS!!!!" -Drew Goddard

Iconic.

MisterDoctor217 - 9/13/2021, 10:17 AM

I gotta say his Spidey movies are growing on me , I watched them recently and I actually thought they had cool parts, some even better than MCU Spidey.
Idk if it’s the nostalgia or what but in hindsight I’m glad we’ve gotten all these Spidey iterations. Some good , some bad , some great (looking at Spidey 2) but in the end somewhere out there some Spider-Man fan likes or even loves on of those interpretations.

LSHF - 9/13/2021, 10:51 AM

@MisterDoctor217 - Cool. I watch these films for the "cool parts".

Reeds2Much - 9/13/2021, 10:59 AM

@MisterDoctor217 - The carjacking and Lizard fight at school scenes, and the first Electro fight were great scenes in a "Spider-Man being Spider-Man" way.

In fact that carjacking scene should get more praise. The way he's quipping one second and then gets really angry and quiet and menacing is quintessential Spider-Man.

MisterDoctor217 - 9/13/2021, 11:21 AM

@Reeds2Much -
Yes! The Carjacking scene doesn’t get enough credit. I mean he came off like a douche but yeah going back and reading the early Kirby/Stan Lee stuff, that’s how he used to be as a teen.
And yes The Lizard fights are actually cool, I mean his design isn’t great but he is kinda menacing xD

MisterDoctor217 - 9/13/2021, 11:22 AM

@LSHF -
Yeah some films are cool, some are not. Some are not that great but nice to revisit for those cool scenes on a Friday night.
At least for me anyway.

GhostDog - 9/13/2021, 10:33 AM

Wish this didn’t pull him away from Daredevil. What a waste.

LSHF - 9/13/2021, 10:52 AM

@BlackBeltJones - Daredevil was kick-ass (and face-punching).

TheWalkingCuban - 9/13/2021, 10:53 AM

Why was sinister six canceled? Did they say something racist?

Kozmik - 9/13/2021, 8:20 PM

@TheWalkingCuban - No, it was likely going to likely end up a terrible movie (and we've seen more than enough of those from Sony at that point revolving around their treatment of Spider-Man.

TheWalkingCuban - 9/13/2021, 8:35 PM

@Kozmik - ah well that explains it thank you citizen!!!

Kozmik - 9/14/2021, 10:33 AM

@TheWalkingCuban - Look up what Goddard was saying at the time. If you thought Raimi's Spider-Man 3 was not great, I don't think you would have liked what they were planning.

TheWalkingCuban - 9/14/2021, 10:52 AM

@Kozmik - hey at least we’re here, I don’t think many hardcore fans like Holland or Webb, I do, so I’m more like the general public in that way. But Garfield? Foxx? (He’s talented, regardless of how crap that travesty was) even without the S6 coming to fruition Goddard style, we got a good setup. Man I almost wish it was Raimi again. Idk tho. The old Spidey’s mostly feel lame now aside from Dafoe and Molina. Loved all the web slinging in both of the first 2 franchises tho, all of it. Super cinematic. Idc if it’s bio or mechanical webs. Just swing, baby, that’s whyyyy I love Vegas, cuz my baby’s therrrrre

Superspecialawesomeguy - 9/13/2021, 12:45 PM

This might be a hot take but I thought Goddard's Sinister Six movie sounded pretty cool tbh.

NinnesMBC - 9/13/2021, 12:49 PM

Could we see an animated sequel about it someday?

YonnyLayna - 9/13/2021, 5:46 PM

Give him Daredevil again.

1 2

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Star Andrew Garfield Opens Up On Drew Goddard's Canceled SINISTER SIX Movie

Sinister Six was supposed to be released between The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 3, and Andrew Garfield has now opened up on Drew Goddard's scrapped plans for the project. Read on for further details...

10. The Sinister Six Recruits Spider-Man

9. Norman Osborn Returns

8. Spider-Man Resurrects The Dead

7. Ambitious Plans To Outdo Marvel Studios With Sinister Six

6. Emma Stone Returns...As Gwen Stacy Carnage!

5. Sinister Six's A-List Cast

4. Marc Webb's Final Amazing Spider-Man Film

3. Felicity Jones Suits Up As Black Cat

2. The Spider-Slayers

1. Crossover With The MCUs

SINISTER SIX Movie Rumored To Be Back On At Sony Pictures With Its Live-Action Spin-Off Characters

SINISTER SIX: Sony's Scrapped AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Spin-Off Featured A Bonkers Scene With A T-Rex

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Star Paul Giamatti On Whether He Was Contacted For SINISTER SIX And NO WAY HOME

SINISTER SIX Movie Rumored To Be Back On At Sony Pictures With Its Live-Action Spin-Off Characters

SINISTER SIX: Sony's Scrapped AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Spin-Off Featured A Bonkers Scene With A T-Rex

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Star Paul Giamatti On Whether He Was Contacted For SINISTER SIX And NO WAY HOME

SINISTER SIX Movie Rumored To Be Back On At Sony Pictures With Its Live-Action Spin-Off Characters

SINISTER SIX: Sony's Scrapped AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Spin-Off Featured A Bonkers Scene With A T-Rex

SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE: Sony Pictures Teases Involvement of The Sinister Six

Sony Pictures Is Reportedly Building Towards A SINISTER SIX Movie Once Again