Theory: No Way Home's Villain Are Spider-Slayers (Not Sinister Six)

A new Spider-Man: No Way Home lego set may be a sign that the movie’s real villains are the Spider-Slayers, not the Sinister Six. One of the leading theories about Spider-Man and Doctor Strange’s upcoming MCU team-up is that they’ll be up against the Sinister Six, but that may not be the case.

Marvel has revealed very little about Spider-Man’s next adventure. It’s known that it’ll involve the multiverse and the Sorcerer Supreme, but why this would be a problem for a street-level hero like Spider-Man (Tom Holland) remains to be seen. Regardless, Doctor Strange’s role and the multiverse being at play clearly signal that No Way Home is larger in scale than all other big-screen Spider-Man stories preceding it. Whoever they’re up against, they must be powerful indeed if it’s going to take Spider-Man and Doctor Strange to beat them. It’ll of course have to be someone on a level that’s far above Michael Keaton’s Vulture or Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio.

Some believe that instead of pitting Spider-Man against one villain, No Way Home will up the stakes by forcing him to fight an entire group of them – namely, the Sinister Six. While there is some degree of evidence for such an alliance occurring, Marvel has offered no confirmation that the Sinister Six will form to take down Spider-Man and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch). Instead, it could be that the enemy they’re facing will be a lesser-known threat from Marvel Comics that hasn’t been used in the MCU or any of the Spider-Man movie franchises.

No Way Home's Villains Confirmed & Rumored

Doc Ock on top of a building in Spider-Man 2

Several characters have been discussed when it comes to who No Way Home’s villains are, but most of the names actually come from outside the MCU, with two of these having been officially confirmed at this point. The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Spider-Man 2’s Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) are definitely coming back. The presumption about their return is that Marvel will make the Spider-Man franchises they came from separate realities in the MCU’s multiverse.

There’s a quite a few more characters associated with Raimi’s trilogy and The Amazing Spider-Man movies that are heavily rumored to be appearing in some capacity. Reportedly, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin will be along for the ride, as he was supposedly seen on set. There are no set photos to prove this claim, but there has been a lot of talk about him having a part in the film. Others thought to be in No Way Home include Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church), the Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Rhino (Aleksei Sytsevich). As for what new characters the film could introduce, Murphy’s Multiverse reported a rumor that evil scientist Dr. Spencer Smythe could be featured in the action.

No Way Home Could Introduce The Spider-Slayers

Spider-Man No Way Home Lego Set Scorpion

Images of a Spider-Man: No Way Home Lego playset shows off a fight that doesn’t include any of the aforementioned villains. If the toys are accurate (and they aren’t always are), they point toward a battle involving Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and Wong (Benedict Wong) at a workshop in the Sanctum Sanctorum. In the picture on the box, they look to be fighting a large, green machine of some kind. The color and the tail-shipped appendages has raised some interesting Scorpion comparisons, but its robot-like appearance actually resembles the Spider-Slayers more than it does Mac Gargan. The Spider-Slayers are robotic killers programmed to pursue Spider-Man in the comic books. Also, it’s worth noting that the introduction of the Spider-Slayers in No Way Home lines up with the Dr. Spencer Smythe rumor. After all, it was he who engineered them in the comics.

Spider-Slayer Comics History & Version

Peter Parker has a history with the Spider-Slayers that goes all the way back to The Amazing Spider-Man #25 in 1965. In the comic, J. Jonah Jameson - Spider-Man’s biggest critic - let his hatred of the wallcrawler get the best of him. He used his money to bankroll Dr. Smythe’s plan to build a Spider-Slayer, a robot powerful and intelligent enough to hunt down Spider-Man. Apparently, it was designed with Spider-Man’s physical capabilities and powers in mind, thus making it a formidable adversary for Spider-Man. Fortunately, he managed to deactivate the machine, but that wasn’t the last he saw of it or Smythe.

When the first Spider-Slayer failed to get the job done, Smythe built replacements, such as an android and giant robot spiders. When Smythe died, his work was carried on by his son, Allistair Smythe, who emerged as a major Spider-Man villain in his own right. Alistair created several of his own Spider-Slayers and sent them to destroy the hero, but always came up short. The robots have also been used against other Marvel Comics superheroes, like Wolverine and She-Hulk.

How The Spider-Slayers Would Work In The MCU

The Spider-Slayers could work in the MCU as robotic killing machines designed to kill Peter Parker. If they came from the multiverse, it’s possible they were built to kill all versions of Spider-Man, which could explain why the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions don’t seem to be coming back alongside their old foes. The Spider-Slayers could have killed other Spider-Men from the multiverse, and have now set their sights on the MCU’s Peter Parker. As for who made them, Spencer (or Alistair) Smythe could be directly responsible for bringing them into existence. Either character could have worked on the project with Doctor Octopus, who actually could have the scientific know-how to make them without Smythe. The same science behind his mechanical arms could be implemented into the design of the Spider-Slayers. If so, Doctor Octopus could be the mastermind, with the Spider-Slayers acting as the primary threat to Spider-Man in the movie. To beat their creator, he may have to get through legions of these Spider-Slayer robots.

Also, the setup that the MCU has offered for Spider-Man: No Way Home makes the Spider-Slayers a good fit for the movie in terms of what direction it’s taking Peter Parker. In his last movie, he was blamed for the death of Mysterio. To make matters worse, Spider-Man's secret identity was exposed to whole world. With these things in mind, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if Spider-Man spends a portion of the film on the run from villains trying to catch and possibly kill him. Leading the hunt for the wallcrawling fugitive could be the Spider-Slayers.

More: How Spider-Man's Identity Can Turn MJ Into Mary Jane Watson In No Way Home