The original Sinister Six team was set up by Spider-Man villains who were tired of him beating them every time they faced him and decided to work together. However, this original team didn’t work out very well since they chose not to work as a team. Instead, in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, Doctor Octopus set up a way for each of them to fight Spider-Man one-by-one to wear him down, and that ended with him winning anyway. This team included big-time villains like Sandman, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and the Vulture. While those remain the most common members of the supervillain team, they aren’t the only members.

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Here is a look at the seven most powerful Sinister Six members other than those original founding members.

7) Hobgoblin

When Hobgoblin first appeared in Marvel Comics, he was one of the best villains of the 1980s. That is because no one knew who he was and the mystery was done well enough to make every appearance he made even more exciting than the last. However, things went off the rails when it was revealed to be Peter Parker’s friend Ned Leeds, and then that was retconned and it was Roderick Kingsley.

However, it was a different Hobgoblin, Jason Macendale, who took on a big role with the Sinister Six. This was in Return of the Sinister Six, a storyline that saw Doctor Octopus put the team back together with the goal of finally beating Spider-Man, a plan that failed like every other attempt in the past. Macendale also returned with the Sinister Seven, this time as the leader, and then Roderick Kingsley finally joined the group in 2017.

6) Swarm

Swarm is a Nazi from World War II who escaped after the war and lived in the jungles of South America. However, as a scientist, he discovered some bees given massive intelligence thanks to cosmic exposure, and he was able to enslave the queen bee when they all attacked him. Although it resulted in his body’s destruction, his consciousness survived and since he enslaved the queen bee, he know controlled all the bees that now made up his body.

Swarm actually formed his own All-New Sinister Six with a mishmash of B-level villains in Spider-Man and the X-Men #4 in 2015. While this team had no chance, Swarm was easily the most powerful of the team and his control of the living hive of thousands of bees makes him one of the most dangerous lower-level villains in Marvel Comics.

5) Scorpion

Mac Gargan has been one of Spider-Man’s most persistent villains for years, both as Scorpion and then for a time as Venom. MCU fans will finally get to see Scorpion in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but his history in Marvel Comics is extremely long, as it was J. Jonah Jameson who caused Mac to end up as the Scorpion, which also caused his mental decline.

Scorpion was actually the leader of the Sinister Twelve when Norman Osborn was in prison (in 2004), and his entire plan for the team was to get Norman out of prison. This was also the storyline where the Venom symbiote was seeking a new host and chose Mac, which made him even more powerful than ever.

4) Venom

Venom has been in the Sinister Six more than once, and with different hosts at different times. As mentioned already, Mac Gargan was the de-facto leader of the Sinister Six when he broke Norman Osborn out of jail, and became the new Venom host at that time. However, Eddie Brock was also a member of the Sinister Six during the Another Return of the Sinister Six storyline in the 90s.

However, this return didn’t go very well because Venom decided he wanted to eat the various Sinister Six members instead of teaming with them, almost killed the Sandman and severely injured Kraven the Hunter and Electro. Spider-Man beats the Sinister Six all the time, but here, Venom almost single-handedly took down the entire team from within.

3) Green Goblin

Norman Osborn will always rank as one of the most powerful villains in Marvel Comics, thanks to his connections, obsession, and genius-level intellect makes him someone who has always made life hard for Spider-Man, and over time, other heroes as well. Shockingly, even though he was one of Spider-Man’s most persistent villains early on, he didn’t join the Sinister Six until much later.

In fact, it wasn’t until The Sinister Twelve in 2004 that Norman Osborn actually put together his own team. Clearly, there was little chance someone like Osborn and Octopus could work together well, and they had clashed when they both targeted Spider-Man at the same time in the decades prior. This was Norman’s only time to serve in the team, but he caused even more problems years later with his Dark Avengers.

2) Lizard

Lizard is someone who was one of Spider-Man’s earliest enemies, and he remains the most tragic of all of his foes since Curt Connors never wanted to be a monster and had no control when he changed into the reptilian monster. However, while he was an early villain for Spider-Man, Curt’s good will kept Lizard from being part of the Sinister Six until the Sinister Twelve with Green Goblin.

Lizard was a part of that team, and then later a part of the very next formation, which saw Doctor Octopus reform the team on his own, with Lizard, Electro, Vulture, Trapster, and the Grim Reaper. The Lizard (Duplicate) was a member of the 16th iteration of the team. Few villains are as strong as the Lizard in Marvel Comics, and he remains one of the most powerful Sinister Six villains of all time.

1) Rhino

There might not be a more powerful member of the Sinister Six in history than Rhino. However, he is another Spider-Man villain who didn’t join the supervillain team-up group until many years after he and the Wall-Crawler became enemies. In fact, Rhino never joined until the 10th incarnation of the team, with Doctor Octopus, Electro, Mysterio, Chameleon, and Sandman. He only worked with them one other time, in the 19th iteration.

As for powers, he is nearly unstoppable. Rhino gained his powers via chemical and gamma ray bombardments, which gave him superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability. He also has his Rhino Armor works in conjunction with his gamma-based powers, making him even more durable and superhumanly strong.

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