Drew Goddard Breaks Down the Sinister Six Spider-Man Movie That Almost Happened

Drew Goddard has had a pretty wild ride in Hollywood, from writing some major blockbusters like 'Cloverfield' and 'The Martian,' to directing cult favorites like 'Cabin in the Woods.' But there’s one project from his resume that still kind of stings—the infamous, never-made 'Sinister Six' movie. The one that was supposed to bring together a bunch of Spider-Man’s best villains for Sony’s short-lived shared universe.

What Goddard Really Wanted For Sinister Six

So here's the backstory. Sony was deep into its 'Amazing Spider-Man' era, Andrew Garfield and all, and wanted to do a big interconnected web (sorry) of spinoffs. Enter Drew Goddard, who was hired to write and direct a 'Sinister Six' film. People always wondered how this movie was going to work—was it just about the villains? Was Spider-Man even going to show up?

Talking with Coy Jandreau, Goddard didn’t dodge: the movie absolutely was going to be a Spider-Man movie. But Goddard wanted a fresh take, something less like another cog in the continuity machine:

'I wanted it to feel like a summer annual. I feel like I’m tired of serialization in comic book movies. I get the important part, but what I loved was the summer annual where you had the ongoing, but then every summer you would get one story that was bananas. I said when I pitched it, "I’m not going to screw up anyone’s continuity, but I want to feel like, 'Oh, my god, what happened?' That was the feeling that I wanted to get. I still haven’t seen anyone capture that. I’m not giving up. I got to get a summer annual.'

If you’re not a comics nerd, 'summer annual' is code for an over-the-top event story that still fits into the main line, but you can jump in fresh and just enjoy the chaos. In other words, Goddard didn't want to break canon—he just wanted something that didn’t get bogged down by a million story threads and unfinished setups. Kind of the opposite of what sunk 'Amazing Spider-Man 2' (the graveyard of subplot teases), honestly.

Why Didn’t This Movie Happen?

You might remember, Goddard was also briefly the guy in charge at Netflix’s 'Daredevil'—until he left to focus on 'Sinister Six.' Ouch. After that project tanked, he even got tapped for the 'X-Force' movie (Deadpool, Cable, all that jazz), which, as you probably guessed, also died thanks to Disney swallowing Fox and putting the old X-Men universe out of its misery.

The Sony Hack—And The Real End

So what killed 'Sinister Six,' specifically? Enter the 2014 Sony hack—a hacker leak tied to the Seth Rogen comedy 'The Interview'—which changed the studio’s entire outlook on Spider-Man. Here’s Goddard’s version of the day:

'My office was right on the lot, and I saw the FBI swarm in and the helicopters fly over the studio. I was sad about it, but there was literally nothing I could do to change the course of events. I suppose it was better than if they hadn’t liked the script.'

The emails made public during that mess showed Sony and Marvel were already chatting about lending Spider-Man to the MCU (which eventually led to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker debut in ‘Captain America: Civil War’).

At that point, every plan for the 'Sinister Six'—originally eyeballed for a November 2016 release—was dead in the water.

Could We Ever See Goddard’s Sinister Six?

What’s extra odd about all this? Goddard’s approach might be exactly what fans want now. People hated how much set up got crammed into 'Amazing Spider-Man 2' for this movie, but his pitch was to make something wild and self-contained that didn’t break the main story. In a world that’s now gotten 'Madame Web,' 'Kraven the Hunter,' and 'Morbius,' I’d argue a Goddard-directed summer annual-style 'Sinister Six' is the sort of thing that could actually turn the ship around for Sony’s Spider-Universe—or even for Marvel, if they ever wanted to revive it.

• 'Sinister Six' was supposed to be a Spider-Man movie, just told from the villains' perspective
• Goddard wanted it to feel like a big, wild, one-off event, not another episode in endless serialization
• He didn’t plan on screwing up any established continuity
• The movie got axed after Sony’s internal drama was exposed in the infamous 2014 hack, and Marvel took the reins on Spider-Man
• Goddard keeps missing out on superhero gigs—'Daredevil,' then 'Sinister Six,' then 'X-Force'—all ending before they could happen

So, if Sony or Marvel ever wants to take a chance and really do something different with Spidey’s villains… Goddard’s still out there. The man just wants his 'summer annual.' Give it to him already.