Spider-Man: No Way Home Concept Art Teases The Missing Sinister Six Villain

"Spider-Man: No Way Home" brought more villains of the web-slinger together than any previous installment in the three live-action "Spider-Man" franchises. Still, some fans who expected the iconic Sinister Six from the comics to form and fight Spider-Man were left disappointed. Throughout the Spider-Man films, Peter Parker's top villains have come into play, many of whom made up the criminal group on the comic book pages. However, with original Sinister Six member Mysterio already appearing as the main villain in "Spider-Man: Far From Home," and not reprising his role in the third installment of the MCU's "Spider-Man" films and Kraven the Hunter not being seen on the big screen yet despite being played by Aaron Taylor Johnson in the upcoming "Kraven The Hunter" solo film from director J.C. Chandor, seeing the wall-crawler's foes come together seemed like a long-shot. 

Ultimately, the Sinister Six never came to fruition in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." The movie featured five villains: the Green Goblin, Sandman, Electro, Doctor Octopus, and the Lizard. However, it appears there were plans to include another potential character, the Vulture, with concept art teasing a possible Sinister Six could have formed in the movie based on some early plans.

Despite Michael Keaton appearing as Adrian Toomes' Vulture in a post-credit scene to "Morbius," which came out just a few months after "Spider-Man: No Way Home," the character at one point appeared to be part of the plans for the third film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man series. On his Instagram page, storyboard artist Phil Langone, who has worked on numerous MCU projects including "No Way Home," shared a scene featuring Norman Osborn's betrayal. In the storyboards, the likes of Sandman, Doctor Octopus, and the Vulture can be seen in a garage, hinting that there were bigger plans for the character before the villains were settled on. 

So, why wasn't Michael Keaton's Vulture in "Spider-Man: No From Home"? Well, the veteran actor likely was busy working on some other movies, including the now-canceled "Batgirl" film and "The Flash," where he reprised the role of Batman. It's also possible that the actor was intended to play a role in the earlier drafts of "No Way Home," but there wasn't enough room for another villain after everything was outlined and lined up. When a fan asked why Toomes was featured in the early artwork, Langone replied: "The original version of the story had this, then it changed after I left. Because of Covid shutdowns the production ended up having more time to work out ideas."

Regardless of what actually happened, seeing the Vulture in concept art for the film shows Marvel fans could have gotten the Sinister Six in the film. Thankfully, there's still plenty of time for the MCU to make the villainous team happen, as Keaton's Vulture would be a fitting member of the group, given his history with Spider-Man and his eagerness to get revenge on the hero.