Project Hail Mary screenwriter Drew Goddard has said that the Sony hack of 2014 killed his “big” Spider-Man movie about The Sinister Six.
Goddard has spoken before about his plan for a Sinister Six movie, telling IGN it was intended to be a supervillain focused spinoff of Sony’s now shelved Amazing Spider-Man franchise, starring Andrew Garfield in the title role.
“The trick with Sinister, is that I was making everyone the protagonist and less about six-on-one and more about coming at it a little differently,” Goddard said in 2015. “That was the idea.” The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s Harry Osborn prison scene teased a Sinister Six lineup that would have included Doctor Octopus, Vulture, and Rhino, and Sinister Six schematics shown during the credits suggested Green Goblin, Kraven The Hunter, and Mysterio would have also made the cut.
The Sony hack was devastating for the company and, in particular, Sony Pictures Entertainment. Leaked data included employee emails, personal and family information, executive salaries, copies of then-unreleased films, future film plans, and screenplays. Threats over then-upcoming film The Interview, Seth Rogen‘s dark comedy about a plan to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, caused Sony to cancel its premiere and mainstream release and head straight to digital release. The U.S. government would later conclude the attack was sponsored by North Korea, which has denied responsibility.
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The leak also revealed behind-the-scenes politics on Sony’s Spider-Man film series, and the license would go on to be shared between Sony and Marvel Studios, sparking the current Tom Holland iteration of the superhero. Meanwhile, Sony’s now defunct Spider-Man Universe saw some villains, such as Venom and Kraven the Hunter, get their own films.
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Now, speaking to Variety to promote Project Hail Mary, Goddard has finally revealed the reason his Sinister Six movie was canceled.
“I had a big Spider-Man movie about the Sinister Six go down because of the Sony hack,” he said. “My office was right on the lot, and I saw the FBI swarm in and the helicopters fly over the studio. I was sad about it, but there was literally nothing I could do to change the course of events. I suppose it was better than if they hadn’t liked the script.”
Goddard pivoted from The Sinister Six to writing 2015’s The Martian, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He’s set to write and direct The Matrix 5, although he couldn’t confirm if Keanu Reeves will return.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.