Marc Webb Spills on Sinister Six and Amazing Spider-Man 3

Details have finally emerged that give some insight into the nature of the scuttled The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and The Sinister Six movies.

During the brief lifespan of Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, during which time it seemed the indie darling would be working with Sony for years to rehab the character's tarnished image, the studio had -- and announced -- huge plans. The films, which were cancelled after the underwhelming performance of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, had been announced before that film ever hit theaters, and were expected to lay the groundwork for a broader Spider-Man "universe" of films, including Venom.

"Yeah, we were talking about the Sinister Six. They were going to make a Sinister Six movie before we did the third one," Webb told Den of Geek. "Chris Cooper was going to come back and play the Goblin. We were going to freeze his head, and then he was going to be brought back to life. And then there was that character called The Gentleman. We had some notions about how to do it, but I think maybe we were thinking too far ahead when we started building in those things. But it was a fun exercise. I look back very fondly on those days."

While most fans will remember the Green Goblin from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films, The Gentleman is a far less known menace. Gustav Fiers first appeared in Adam-Troy Castro's novel Spider-Man: The Gathering Of The Sinister Six. The Gentleman is the brother of a pre-existing villain, The Finisher, who was responsible for killing Peter Parker's parents. The Gentleman appeared in the novels Spider-Man: Revenge Of The Sinister Six, and Spider-Man: Secret Of The Sinister Six (in which he was killed off) before finally making his comic book debut last October in Civil War II: Kingpin.

While Fiers likely had ties to the subplot involving Spider-Man's father -- a deleted scene from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 showed him to still be alive -- he would not have been the one gathering the Sinister Six. Rather, that would have been the Green Goblin, who also would have served as the villain to The Amazing Spider-Man 3.

"Well, that was going to be the main villain. He was going to come out and lead the Sinister Six," Webb explained, adding, "We had talked about Vulture a little bit too, actually."

The Vulture, played by Michael Keaton in Spider-Man: Homecoming, was one of a few villains also considered for Raimi's planned-and-cancelled Spider-Man 4. Another such villain was The Lizard, who would be retooled as the villain for The Amazing Spider-Man.

While Spider-Man: Homecoming brought Peter Parker into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony continues to develop a "Spider-Man Universe," with planned Venom and Silver Sable/Black Cat movies slated as well as an animated Spider-Man movie that features Miles Morales.