Sinister War is a four-issue mini-series by Marvel Comics. It is the Grand Finale of The Amazing Spider-Man (2018).
Ever since the Hunted storyline, various villainous factions have been created utilizing the "Sinister" or "Six" branding: Vulture created the "Savage Six", utilizing animal-themed villains; the Foreigner has organised an alliance with Taskmaster and Black Ant to take revenge on Spider-Man for the events of The Chameleon Conspiracy; Lady Beetle created the "Sinister Syndicate", comprised of villainesses; Boomerang, though still smarting from betraying Spider-Man, has his own Sinister Six despite only having five people; and thanks to Kindred's prodding, Dr. Octopus has reformed his own Sinister Six. Now all five of these groups are on a crash course with each other, with New York and Spider-Man in the middle.
The storyline had various epilogue teasers through Amazing Spider-Man #65-70, which leads up to the self-titled mini-series with tie-ins in Amazing Spider-Man #71-73 with an epilogue in #74, concluding Spencer's run.
Tropes Used in this storyline
- Arc Welding: Amazing #71 reveals that Kindred had been behind Mysterio's revival after the seminal Daredevil storyline Guardian Devil and was behind other events such as Spider-Men. The controversial "Sins Past" also plays a central role in the story, with the revelation that Harry Osborn was behind it all in a mad attempt to give Norman "worthy" heirs. That didn't pan out because the Stacy twins' bodies were too unstable, but they did come in handy when Kindred needed a body...
- Back from the Dead: Max Dillon, the original Electro, is revived in Amazing #69, being dead since Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy.
- Artificial Intelligence: Norman journeys to a mansion in Europe where he finds a hidden lab containing a computer housing the brain waves of both himself and his son Harry. This version of 'Harry' reveals he is the same one from the 1990s one-shot special Legacy of Evil, he taunts his sin-free father with the famous 'gotcha' catchphrase.
- Bittersweet Ending: Kindred is defeated and Harry Osborn's soul is freed from Mephisto's possession by Doctor Strange. But Fred Meyers and the Harry clone both died trying to redeem themselves. Peter is unable to propose to MJ (though the silver lining is they at least remained together for now).
- It also counts as a meta bittersweet ending. Sure, One More Day isn't retconned despite the massive number of foreshadowing during this run but Sins Past is retconed, meaning Gwen never slept with Norman, we discover Mephisto wasn't just an idiot when he stole the marriage, Peter and MJ are still together and we see hope that the aftermath of OMD could still be fixed.
- Cannot Spit It Out: Mysterio tries to warn Spider-Man and MJ about the true mastermind behind all of their problems, but Doc Ock steals him and MJ away before he can, only giving Spidey a cryptic message to "Remember".
- Damsel in Distress: Despite Mary Jane's Badass Boast to Tarantula on not playing this role, she unfortunately ends up in this position due to Kindred coercing Mysterio into bringing her to him in order to mentally and possibly physically torture her.
- Deal with the Devil:
- Dr. Octopus is getting help from Kindred in recovering lost memories, in this case, many of his memories were lost when Mephisto removed them back when he was the Superior Spider-Man.
- Turns out all the villains are stuck in this as Kindred has infected them with insects that will ultimately eat their brains and he has commanded them to kill Spider-Man and the one who does effectively doesn't have to suffer in Hell.
- Amazing #72 reveals that Mephisto was behind the creation of the Green Goblin, tempting Osborn with the need for money in desperation in exchange for the soul of his firstborn, Harry.
- Dying Declaration of Love: Inverted. Before offering himself to the Kindred Twins, Norman tells Harry that he has always loved him deep down even when he was completely insane. Ironically, Harry is the one who ends up dying while saving Norman's life.
- Evil Versus Evil: One of the few things Spidey has going for him in this arc is that all of the villains are so desperate to be the one to kill him (the team that does will be spared the torments of Hell when they die) that most of them spend more time fighting each other than going after him.
- Fake Memories: Sins Past was actually a result of these; Mysterio planted false memories of Gwen's affair with Norman Osborn in the minds of Mary Jane and Norman himself, justifying the existence of 'Gabriel and Sarah Stacy' when they were actually just flawed clones of Norman and Gwen.
- God's Hands Are Tied: Mephisto's response to Stephen Strange when the good Doctor demands he break the hold he has over Peter Parker's soul.
- Grand Finale: For Spencer's run. On a meta level, Sinister War is also Spencer's Marvel Comics swansong for now (being his last Marvel project before pursuing creator-owned work for Substack).
- Heroic Sacrifice: Boomerang rescues Spidey from Morlun, only to be the Inheritor's next meal.
- Harry gets impaled through the chest taking a blow meant for Norman.
- Hypocrite: Spider-Man is skeptical of Mysterio's reformation despite MJ vouching for him. MJ immediately brings up how trusting Spider-Man is of the Black Cat and how willing he was to accept Boomerang's lie about being reformed.
- Literal Split Personality: Doc Ock's Sinister Six use the Isotope Genome Accelerator to split Curt Connors and the Lizard so they can use the Lizard without Connors' Restraining Bolt.
- Mob War: Five villain groups coming together to beat each other senseless over a title.
- The Casino: The setting for Mephisto and Stephen Strange's high-stakes game of chance.
- Trash the Set: While trying to escape Kindred's catacombs, Harry and Carlie find the walls are flimsy and are able to easily tear them down, revealing the morgue Carlie works in is part of the building.
- Rogues Gallery Showcase: Spidey ends up facing thirty of his rogues, divided between their respective Sinister factions.
- The Sinister Six: Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Lizard and a reluctant Mysterio.
- The Savage Six: Vulture, Rhino, Tarantula, King Cobra, Stegron and Scorpion.
- Beetle's Sinister Syndicate: Lady Beetle, White Rabbit, Scorpia, Trapstr, Lady Octopus, Electro II and Anastasia Kravinoff.
- Boomerang's Sinister Several: Boomerang, Hydro-Man, Shocker, Overdrive and Speed Demon.
- Foreigner's Wild Pack: Foreigner, Taskmaster, Black Ant, Chance, Jack O'Lantern and Slyde.
- Plus there's Kindred with Mephisto behind the scenes.
- And if things weren't bad enough, Kindred summons a "Sin-ister Six" of his own: Sin-Eater, Grey Gargoyle, Cyclone, Living Laser, Juggernaut and Morlun.
- Retcon: A lot of Goblin-related shenanigans are adjusted and fixed up within Amazing #73: Sins Past is mostly undone, revealing that Gabriel and Sarah Stacy are actually imperfect clones made to believe that Norman and Gwen were their parents, thus those two never had sex.
- Sixth Ranger: Anastasia Kravinoff joins the Syndicate, though there's a bit of frustration over her joining since some of them assume they were a Sinister Six-type and she throws off the numbers.
- Stealth Pun: The Sin-Eater's team. They're the Sin-inister Six.
- Take Me Instead: Norman Osborn offers himself to the Kindred Twins to stave them off Spider-Man and Harry. Naturally, neither Spider-Man or Harry are willing to leave Norman to die, much to the surprise of them all.
- Underestimating Badassery: Kindred's been a pretty potent Big Bad, but he slips up when he strings along and then coerces Dr. Octopus, who then devotes his actual efforts into killing Kindred's brain centipedes with Black Ant's tech.
- Viva Las Vegas!: Mephisto is based here at the Hotel Inferno.
- Wham Episode:
- Issue #71 reveals that the therapist MJ was seeing after Harry's original death was actually Mysterio.
- Issue #72 reveals that Norman made a deal with Mephisto for wealth and success in exchange for Harry's soul. Also, Harry's brain is still uploaded onto a computer and Harry had actually been aware that his father had returned to life prior to Norman's return in The Clone Saga.
- Issue #73 is easily the biggest one; Sarah and Gabe Stacy are not Gwen Stacy's children from an affair with Norman. They are clones created from Norman and Gwen's DNA, all part of Harry's ruse to torture Peter and Norman. Gwen never slept with Norman, and Norman and MJ had false memories implanted in them by Mysterio under Harry's orders.
- Issue #74: Kindred isn't actually Harry. They are Sarah and Gabe, acting interchangeably as one single person and serving as vessels for the Harry A.I., having been tortured by Mephisto. Also, the Harry Osborn who came back to life in Brand New Day is actually a clone and the real Harry is still dead, with his soul in Mephisto's possession.
