The First 10 Sinister Six Lineups, Ranked by Comic Legacy

The Sinister Six formed when six of Spider-Man’s most dangerous villains decided it might be easier to beat him together than individually. That team debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964), although their plan was to fight him one-on-one to wear him down, which didn’t work. Since that time, the supervillain team has tried different lineups, sometimes with more than six members, and many times with different leaders in charge of the team. While names like Doctor Octopus and Green Goblin have often been in control, these teams have varied wildly over time. The first version of the Sinister Six debuted in the 1960s, with the 10th version showing up in the 2020s. Here is a look at the first 10 official versions of the Sinister Six, ranked by their comic book legacy.

10) Sinister Seven

Of the first 10 versions of the Sinister Six, the one that has the worst legacy is the Sinister Seven, which debuted in 1995. This was a team the Hobgoblin formed in Spider-Man Unlimited #9 at the end of the Clone Saga. His goal was to hunt down and kill Kaine, the unstable Peter Parker clone. His lineup included Mysterio, Electro, Vulture, Beetle, Shocker, and Scorpia. They found Kaine, and he would have killed every one of them if Spider-Man hadn’t stopped him and saved the villains. They added nothing to Peter Parker’s lore and failed miserably in their mission.

9) Sinister Six #4 (1999, Vol. 2)

This version of the team debuted in their own series, Sinister Six Vol. 2, and also crossed over into Amazing Spider-Man #12 and Peter Parker: Spider-Man #12. This saw Sandman in a rare leadership role on the team, and he brought in Venom (Eddie Brock), Kraven the Hunter (Alyosha Kravinoff), Electro, Mysterio (Daniel Berkhart), and Vulture. This team was put together because Sandman was trying to hunt down Doctor Octopus. However, this team almost ended with all their deaths as well when Venom decided to literally eat them all until Spider-Man saved them.

8) Sinister Six #3 — “Revenge of the Sinister Six”

“Revenge of the Sinister Six” is one of the best Sinister Six stories ever told, and it played out in Spider-Man #18-23 (1991-1992) by Erik Larsen. This was a team that Doctor Octopus put together with Mysterio, Vulture, Hobgoblin (Macendale), Electro, and Gog. The alien Gog replaced Sandman when he refused to return to evil, and Sandman even warned Spider-Man about the team’s return. However, this lineup was strong enough to pull in Fantastic Four, Nova, Deathlok, Solo, Sleepwalker, and the Hulk to stop them. This version of the team was great, but it had a lot of the 1990s excess that overshadowed what makes the Sinister Six great.

7) Superior Six

The Superior Six debuted in Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #5-7 (2013), when the new Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus) kidnapped some old allies from custody. He grabbed Sandman, Electro, Chameleon, Vulture, and Mysterion, and he surgically implanted mind-control tech to force them onto his “hero” team. His control lasted until Sun-Girl used an electromagnetic attack during a Masters of Evil fight to break Ott’s control, and the villains turned on him. While not a true legacy, they were an original concept based on the classic team.

6) Sinister Six #6 — Boomerang’s Sinister Six

In 2013, Boomerang started his own Sinister Six with Beetle (Janice Lincoln), Living Brain, Overdrive, Shocker, and Speed Demon. However, the team lost an original member immediately when Superior Spider-Man reprogrammed The Living Brain, but Boomerang joked that they should keep the name anyway to hold onto their notoriety and only have to split the money five ways. The legacy of this team expands beyond their work as the Sinister Six. Instead, their best stories came in The Superior Foes of Spider-Man (2013-2015) by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber, which might be the most entertaining Sinister Six comic.

5) Sinister Six #7 — “Sinister War”

In 2021, the biggest Sinister Six team of all time debuted in “Sinister War,” which kicked off in Amazing Spider-Man #64 (2021) by Nick Spencer and Federico Vicentini. This lineup started with Doctor Octopus serving as the leader and reuniting Sandman, Electro, Kraven the Hunter (Sergei, resurrected), Mysterio, and Lizard. This was all a plan by Kindred to break down Spider-Man, and it all ended with six competing Sinister Six teams fighting Spider-Man at the same time, while Boomerang’s squad actually tried to help him. It took Doctor Octopus betraying everyone for Spider-Man to get out of this alive.

4) Sinister Six #5 — “Ends of the Earth”

“Ends of the Earth” was the Sinister Six team that formed on Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary. It ran in Amazing Spider-Man #682-687 (2012) by Dan Slott, Stefano Caselli, and Humberto Ramos. This had Doctor Octopus as the leader again, this time with Mysterio, Sandman, Electro, Rhino, and Chameleon. Doc Ock tricked the world into thinking that he could fix global warming as a redemption, but his plan was to force Earth into falling in line with his demands. This took the Avengers, Black Widow, and Silver Sable to help Spider-Man stop the team, making the Sinister Six a global threat for the first time.

3) Sinister Twelve

The Marvel Knights: Spider-Man series saw the biggest version of a solo Sinister Six team, with 12 members joining together to try to beat Spider-Man. Green Goblin was the leader here, and he brought in Boomerang, Chameleon, Electro, Hammerhead, Hydro-Man, Lizard, Sandman, Shocker, Tombstone, Venom, and Vulture. While the team attacked Spider-Man and Black Cat, Norman went after Mary Jane Watson. Spider-Man needed to bring in Captain America, Iron Man, Daredevil, Yellowjacket, and the Fantastic Four to help him get out of this. This was a precursor to Norman starting his Dark Avengers team, as this was where he turned Mac Gargan into Venom.

2) Sinister Six #2 — “Return of the Sinister Six”

In 1990, Doctor Octopus brought the Sinister Six back together again in the first “Return of the Sinister Six” storyline. This ran in Amazing Spider-Man #334-339 (1990) by David Michelinie and Erik Larsen. Doc Ock brought in Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale, replacing the recently deceased Kraven), Vulture, Electro, Mysterio, and Sandman. Their plan was world domination by releasing an atmospheric toxin that Doc Ock had the only cure for. This was the first real Sinister Six story in 26 years, and the resurrection of the team was a huge moment and set up all future Sinister Six storylines.

1) The Original Sinister Six

The Sinister Six lineup that has the best legacy is the first one, as it set up the team for the future, although it would be 26 years before they teamed up again. The team showed up in The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The lineup included Doctor Octopus as the leader, with Vulture, Sandman, Electro, Mysterio, and Kraven the Hunter. The goal here was to attack Spider-Man one at a time to wear him down so he would be easier to beat at the end. However, Spider-Man beat them all. Despite this, this was the team that everyone remembers when thinking about the Sinister Six in Marvel Comics.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

10 Best Spider-Man Comic Book Runs of All Time, Ranked