In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the MCU's Peter Parker did battle with Multiversal villains, the Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, and The Lizard.
Unfortunately, that ragtag group never got a sixth member even though Venom was once considered (concept art has also shown scrapped scenes featuring The Vulture and Mysterio). That was a missed trick on Marvel Studios' part, though we've long suspected it was to save the villainous team for a Sony Pictures project or...Spider-Man 6, perhaps?
According to scooper @BeyondReporter, an early version of Spider-Man 4 featured the Sinister Six. There's no word on who would make up the team or why Marvel Studios and Sony ultimately decided against it.
The leaker adds that the movie "still doesn't have a script" and claims this is why it's now evolved into a story featuring Mephisto and Ghost Rider. If accurate, then it explains why there have been so many conflicting rumours about everyone from Ant-Man to Daredevil and Venom.
Earlier this week, @MyTimeToShineH didn't mince her words when she said, "They're having problems with the script. They had a draft that Tom Holland really liked but he has no taste, and Kevin Feige, who actually does, thought it was bad so now they're rewriting it and changing everything. The script isn’t ready yet and won’t be for a while."
Honestly, we'd take all of this with a pinch of salt until the trades chime in because Spider-Man 4 is a hot topic and rumours like these are likely to become more prevalent until something official is revealed.
If the focus has shifted to Mephisto, then we'd bet on Peter Parker perhaps being offered the chance to reclaim his old life in exchange for making a deal with the devil. A team-up with Ghost Rider would be something different for Spidey, though we still don't know whether that will be the Nicolas Cage Variant or the MCU's take on the Spirit of Vengeance.
"I read it three weeks ago and it really lit a fire in me," Holland said of the script during a recent podcast appearance, somewhat disputing the claims above. "Zendaya and I sat down and read it together and we at times were like bouncing around the living room."
"Like this is a real movie worthy of the fans’ respect, but there [are] a few things we need to figure out before we can get that really going. But it’s exciting and I’m really, really excited about it."
Spider-Man 4 has been officially dated for July 26, 2026 with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton helming a script penned by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.