Sinister Six (film)

**Sinister Six** is a 2016 superhero film set in the Marvel Media Franchise, the thirty-third film in the universe. The film stars Paul Dano, Patrick Wilson, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Dax Shepard, Jonathan Rhys-Meyer, Garret Dillahunt, Anna Kendrick, Franz Drameh, and Matt Damon and was released worldwide on December 2, 2016. The film ran 123 minutes and grossed $746.8 million on a $175 million budget. The film was rated R for sci-fi action and violence, blood and gore, brief graphic nudity, and strong language.

## Plot

2 years after the events of *Spider-Man 3*, Harry Osborn/New Goblin, Max Dillon/Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Quentin Beck/Mysterio, and Adrian Toomes/Vulture are imprisoned on The Raft, a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison. Everett Ross, a CIA agent and ally of S.H.I.E.L.D. watches over the five villains to ensure their continued sentence. However, Dillon manages to gain enough strength to overpower his anti-power collar that supresses their enhanced genes. Dillon fries his collar and escapes his cell. However, first he puts the footage on repeat, so that the guards watching over the security cameras don't notice. Dillon kills the guards on the cell block and also frees Osborn, Kraven, Beck, and Toomes. The five escape, though they also free Flint Marko/Sandman as a sixth member of the Sinister Six. However, Ross discovers the six have escaped and learns that the Mighty Avengers are out on a mission in Austria.

In a forest in London, Jessica Drew chases after several HYDRA agents. Jessica picks up a car and throws it at the agents, before flying after a third and throwing him down on the ground. After this fight, Ross arrives and asks for Jessica's help. Miles Morales is a high-schooler in New York City. However, Morales visits his uncle, Aaron Davis, and finds a radioactive spider in his bag. The spider bites Morales before dying. Morales soon realizes he has gained powers similar to those of Spider-Man. Morales realizes that since Spider-Man is gone, he can use these powers to be the new Spider-Man. Jessica agrees to help stop the Sinister Six under the codename Spider-Woman, and gets a new suit. When the Sinister Six attacks New York City, Morales uses his homemade suit and powers to take on the villains. Jessica arrives and tries to stop them as well. Morales and Jessica meet up and work together. However, they only manage to capture Vulture.

The other villains retreat to their hideout, an underwater submarine that Toomes owns. Vulture refuses to sell out his friends, even after the promise of shortening his sentence. Jessica interrogates him on her own. Jessica smashes his head against the table several times and cuts off his hand. Ross enters and gets Jessica off. However, Vulture's left arm is out of the cuff due to his hand and he attacks Ross, strangling him with his cuff. Jessica sees this from outside and suits up. However, Ross is already dead by the time she and Morales get there. Vulture escapes, much to the anger of Jessica and Morales. The Sinister Six draw out Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. A large fight occurs and Morales is hurt, allowing the villains to retreat. Jessica gets Morales help and he heals. Harry reveals he just wants to avenge his father by killing Spider-Man. Vulture promises they will Parker and kill him. Harry and Toomes speak privately, where Harry apologizes for never accepting his father being with Toomes. Adrian reveals Harry looks just like his father when he was young. The two kiss and then have sex.

Jessica reveals she hid a tracker on Vulture when he escaped and they are hiding in a submarine by the docks. She goes alone to allow Morales to heal. Jessica finds the team and fights them. However, she is outnumbered, until Morales arrives with a squad of highly-trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The villains are captured and arrested, with each being put in a different cell block. Jessica and Morales are made official S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and are offered spots on the Mighty Avengers. However, the two decline the offer, as they want to make their own name. In a mid-credits scene, Jessica returns to London for a visit, where she meets with a doctor, asking about her true origins.

## Cast

* Paul Dano as Harry Osborn/New Goblin
* Patrick Wilson as Max Dillon/Electro
* Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Kraven the Hunter
* Dax Shepard as Flint Marko/Sandman
* Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Quentin Beck/Mysterio
* Garret Dillahunt as Adrian Toomes/Vulture
* Anna Kendrick as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman
* Franz Drameh as Miles Morales/Spider-Man
* Matt Damon as Everett Ross

## Production

After the great reception of the Sinister Six from , a film centered around the team was put into active development in mid-2012. A release date of December 4, 2015 was originally scheduled. Dano, Wilson, Waldau, Meyers, and Dillahunt signed on to reprise their roles. David Ayer was hired in March 2013 to write and direct the film, while casting began in August. Dax Shepard was cast as Sandman, the sixth member of the team, in October, while Anna Kendrick and Lakeith Stanfield were cast in December as Spider-Woman and Miles Morales, respectively, the heroes of the films. In March 2014, Matt Damon revealed he was reprising his role as Everett Ross in the film. Ayer revealed he was in the process of rewriting his script and was unsure if the film was still on schedule. By July, the film was put on hold when Stanfield dropped out of the film due to a disagreement with Ayer. Franz Drameh was cast as a replacement in September. Filming was scheduled to begin on October 3, though Ayer had just completed the storyboard. The film was post-poned to December 2, 2016. After getting things in order, filming began on July 18, 2015, 9 months after originally planned. Filming concluded on October 18 and the film was released 14 months later after several reshoots, including some to fit with the film's R rating, including more nudity, language, and violence.

## Reception

### **Box office**

*Sinister Six* was a box office success, grossing $325.1 million in the United States and Canada and $421.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $746.8 million, against a production budget of $175 million ($325 million including advertising and promotion costs).

### **Critical reception**

*Sinister Six* received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 26% based on 321 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 4.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*Sinister Six* boasts a talented cast and a little more humor than previous MFU efforts, but they aren't enough to save the disappointing end result from a muddled plot, thinly written characters, and choppy directing." On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 40 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.