Pitchmas 2019, Part 6: Sinister Six

Note: If it confuses you why I’m suddenly posting part of a different thing, there’s a reason: I’m going to be posting the unposted Pitchmas, 12 MCU pitches, from last Christmas, on days when I’m not posting new Breed chapters (Monday-Thursday, unless I fall behind). So without further ado, enjoy:

Sinister Six

Opens with a daring raid on a Stark warehouse filled with surplus Iron Man & Chitauri tech. Doctor Octavius is there, technically the seventh member at that moment, because he understands the tech they’re after; he moves around badly, still healing from the accident that grafted his arms to him. The rest are Kraven, Venom, Scorpion (wearing only half a scorpion suit- the raid is to complete his gear), Vulture, Hobgoblin and Spider-Man. Despite this crew, Spider-Man, wearing the Superior Spider-Man costume, is the most vicious of them all, to the point Ock has to talk him down from going too far with the incapacitated guards. Ock is able to complete Scorpion’s ensemble, then and there, and Scorpion single-handedly fights their way through a wall of cops. A sinister voice says through an earpiece to Ock “Was it everything you hoped for?” “More,” he says, watching Scorpion tear through police cars. 

Cut back to a rooftop at night. Venom, quasi-heroic (grr, thanks Sony) is there with Ock. He doesn’t want to hurt the kid, and is uncomfortable with what’s going on. Ock says he understands, but Venom may be the only one of them who can– he sees any other attack coming before it starts- and that they’ll need Spider-Man’s help to deal with Venom’s kid, Cassidy, that it’s only a matter of time before he figures out you can do so much more with a symbiote than make knives. “Like what?” “Anything,” Ock replies. 

Venom complains that they’ve been standing on this rooftop for hours, and is it even the right place. Ock says Kraven tracked the boy to this spot, that he returns at least once a night. Venom states again that he doesn’t want to hurt the kid. “We just want to talk,” Ock says, receding into the shadow as Spider-Man swings by. He lands, and takes off his mask, winded from his evening patrol. He doesn’t notice Venom growing behind him until he’s engulfed by the symbiote’s black ooze.

Ock gives a speech about the forgotten men of Manhattan, left behind by the wealthy, by the beautiful, that they’re finally going to have their day in the sun. Even though it’s speaking to him directly, Vulture isn’t so easily influced, and he and Ock bird-dog one another, possibly even sniping at each other in a later scene. As Ock’s wrapping up, Venom finally arrives, and Ock chastizes him, and says they were beginning to think they’d have to get Stark’s sonic weaponry without him. His symbiote is clearly intimidated by the idea of sonics, but he tries to hide it. They arrive at what remains of Stark Tower, turned into an academy for people with powers or just exceptional skills. A sign on the construction says, “Future site of the Young Avengers Academy,” with some silhouettes we recognize flying out of the larger images of Captain America, Iron Man and Black Widow. They break in, midday, sending civilians scattering and yelling. Ock smiles on, pleased by the screams. Spider-Man is, once again, the most vicious.

Cut to a dark room. Ock hovers over a table with Spider-Man strapped to it. “This is going to hurt, Peter, but not as much as it should,” he takes a lot of blood. “Look, I just bought this Spider-Man costume at the corner store and was going to freak out my friend Ned,” he says, but he stops, “wait, Professor Octavius?” “I chose you, Parker, because you were brilliant. Your mishap with the arachnid was happenstance, but the work you were doing as my assistant… we were going to transform lives. But Tony Stark flashes a smile, and suddenly you’re off in Germany playing flag football with the Avengers.” He steps into the light, and we can see that he’s been horrifically scarred, that the metal arms are fused to his torso, skin and flesh melted together, and a metal ring is burnt into the skin of his forehead, usually covered by his bowl cut. “You did this to me. You selfish, arrogant brat. J. Jonah Jameson’s a hack; his smear alone won’t ruin you- not when St. Anthony blessed you as his heir apparent. But I will fuel that fire until even your own aunt won’t be able to look at you… if I deign to leave her alive that long.”

Otto leaves that room into an adjacent chamber. He hands the blood-filled syringe to the Jackal, who immediately starts doing fake sciency things to it. “How long until it’s ready?” “It’s not a pizza pocket. Or do you want another Kane on our hands?” Close in, as a spider crawls across a desk in the foreground. “I don’t need him pretty- he just needs to be able to do whatever a spider can,” Ock punctuates it by smashing the spider.

Cut back to the present, at their planning space. A Palladium ring is all they took from Stark’s tower, and Venom, furious, clocks Ock. “You used me, you piece of-” he’s clobbered by the rest of the Six, and thrown out the door. He storms off. Spider-Man looks shaken, and takes a walk to clear his head, going to the bathroom. He’s having trouble breathing, and takes off his mask, to reveal a horribly mutilated face, like half of it’s been melted. “What the hell?” he asks, looking at the damage to his face. Ock opens the door behind him, and Peter zones back out, and begins mirroring everything Ock does. “There,” Ock says, “much better.”

Cut to Spider-Man, in his superior costume, dreaming badly, jerking around. He wakes up, and follows his Peter tingle into the basement. He sneaks past Ock, who fell asleep at his table, stirring to create tension a couple of times without waking. “Why do I remember this?” he asks, tracing his hand along a table. He comes to a heavy door, and recognizes it, too; “Epigenetic memory,” comes a small voice in the room. “In laymen’s terms, you remember it because I do.” Superior uses his sticky fingers to break open the slit from the outside so he can see in. Original flavor Spider-Man is strapped to a table, with sedating fluids flowing into him. He frees Peter, before they’re interrupted by Vulture, without his wings. He’s concerned his family could be in jeopardy, that there was no way to refuse Otto without endangering them, and he’s seen enough to want out. “I don’t work with amateurs,” he grumbles, before storming out.

The two Spider-Men team up to take on the remaining six, including Ock and a glass-jawed Jackal. Ock used the Palladium to supercharge his arms, and is no longer the pathetic wretch he’s played all movie; and yes, this does mean dueling motormouth commentary during the fight. As they gain the upper hand, Superior starts hearing Ock in his head. “Did you think I wouldn’t have a fail-safe, in case Parker’s gentle nature infected you?” Superior screams, as he grows additional limbs and turns into a were-spider (Man-Spider, technically). At one point, Venom swings in long enough to web Ock’s feet to the floor, so he’s flat-footed for a double punch from both Spider-Men. “I owed you one, kid.” He frowns, noticing Man-Spider. “And who’s your friend?” “He’s my clone but they put a fail-safe in him that mutated him into even more of a spider-” Venom puts up his hands, “Very sorry I asked. Did you get hyperspeed babbling as part of the spider ability package?” “It’s mostly just nervous energy, but you really are welcome to stay and hit a few more bad guys.” “You look like you’ve got it handled, and I only owed you the one.” He swings off.  

The Peters continue fighting, losing a few of the villains who slink off during the fight, but capturing some. Ock manages to hit Man-Spider hard enough to take him out of the fight, and Peter webs Ock down, first his feet, then each of his metal arms, before finally hitting him hard enough to disrupt the controls on the arms. “Otto, we can help you.” Ock cackles maniacally. “By making me normal? Do you long to be normal, Parker? Keep your pity.” He webs up Ocks mouth, then he checks his phone. There have been a lot of missed calls, from Ned, MJ and from May. “I am so f-“ cut to fun, happy ending music.

Mid-Credits Scene: Peter brings Man-Spider to a high-tech lab. Peter is running at the mouth, thanking the person who is there for helping, because he’s not sure what he could possibly do without his help. We keep the man in shadow, though at one point you can tell he’s missing a limb, before Peter thanks him by name: Dr. Connors.

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