Spider-Man’s Next Movie Has Perfectly Set Up Its Most Entertaining Villain Team-Up, And the MCU Needs It

Spider-Man: Brand New Day had a huge montage showing what the Web-Slinger had been up to since the world forgot who Peter Parker was following Spider-Man: No Way Home. These scenes showed that, while no one remembered Peter, everyone loved Spider-Man. He helped the police and the Department of Damage Control (DODC) stop villains, became a favorite among the local officers, and even went on to earn the key to New York City. Along the way, there were quick shots of him beating minor Spider-Man villains like Boomerang and Tarantula and major ones like Scorpion and Tombstone. This opens up the option to have a very fun follow-up movie.

According to reports, several classic villains were set to appear in Brand New Day, but they were pushed back. The rumors also suggest they could appear in Spider-Man 5. This could give Spider-Man a chance to fight the most entertaining villain team-up in his rogues’ gallery, and it’s not the Sinister Six.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Sets Up the Superior Foes of Spider-Man

According to director Destin Daniel Cretton, there were other villains cut out of the movie, and they were important enough that they were actually designed. However, this change occurred during Brand New Day’s development and after the script was approved. All that ended up appearing were villains who either recreated classic Spider-Man comic book covers or, in the other case, the one villain who did more than just cameo. Boomerang, Tarantula, Ramrod, and Tombstone all recreated the classic covers, and Scorpion played a bigger role in the movie, as Jean Grey controlled him.

That said, the idea for Spider-Man 5 could include them. Cretton said, “We got to design a lot of them. Maybe for another one we’ll bring it back.” The biggest idea here is to bring them back as the Sinister Six, but that isn’t the best idea. What makes a team like the Sinister Six so great is that the villains had been introduced before and then teamed up after each of them had lost to Spider-Man. The Amazing Spider-Man films appeared to be leading to this, and it could have been great. Spider-Man: No Way Home finally paid off the teases by featuring an actual Sinister Six, pulled in from different Earths.

Instead of the Sinister Six, Spider-Man 5 should have the Superior Foes of Spider-Man. Yes, this is risky because it would replace important stories with a simpler, entertaining storyline, but the characters could fit perfectly with Spider-Man, especially after Avengers: Secret Wars resets the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If the MCU introduces Miles Morales and features two Spider-Man heroes, the Superior Foes could be perfect villains.

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man was a team assembled by Boomerang, who debuted in a single shot in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Boomerang was the new leader of the Sinister Six, but he struggled to fill out the ranks with six members. Instead, he ended up with only five, which he joked was better since he only had to split the money they stole five ways. The other four members were Shocker, Speed Demon, Overdrive, and the female Beetle. That version of Beetle is Janice Lincoln, whose father is Tombstone, another connection to Brand New Day.

The Superior Foes Could Create an Entertaining Street-Level Threat

The biggest thing to note about the Superior Foes of Spider-Man is that these villains are mostly incompetent. That said, they are also extremely entertaining. They even headlined their own comic book series for 17 issues from 2013 to 2014, and Spider-Man almost never appeared in those books. Having a villain team causing problems around New York City, especially with them often lucking into their successes, could provide a perfect comedy counterpoint to Spider-Man.

It could be a nice turn after three movies that took Spider-Man to dark places. Spider-Man: Far From Home dealt with Iron Man’s death and the toll it took on Peter. No Way Home ended with Peter losing everything, and Brand New Day saw him trying to help Jean Grey while losing parts of his own humanity.

If Spider-Man 5 includes a silly team like the Superior Foes of Spider-Man, it would lighten the mood a lot. That could hurt the box office, but it would also deliver the kind of story that Spider-Man needs. This could give Spider-Man a fun adventure that really helps establish his place in the MCU, especially with the X-Men seemingly taking on the role of the disenfranchised outsiders. The MCU needs more than just angst, and Spider-Man could provide the counterpoint to that, showing him as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man perfectly.