It is a law of superhero comics that no hero can enjoy a meal in public without a supervillain fight breaking out. Certainly Peter Parker has had more interrupted dates than he’s had hot dinners. However, this classic cliché will be turned on its head in Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Sixteen. The one-shot special will pit Ol’ Web-head against a legion of Marvel Comics‘ A-List villains, under unusually strained circumstances.
Written by J. Michael Straczynski, with art by Phil Noto, Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Sixteen is the last in the series of unlikely team-ups penned by JMS. The story will find Peter Parker trying to have a nice night out with Mary Jane Watson. Naturally, the infamous Parker Luck prevents that from happening.
(Image Source: Marvel / Phil Noto)
Fate places Peter and MJ at the same restaurant as several villains trying to enjoy a meal. Perhaps not so coincidentally, so are their arch-enemies. This leaves the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man trying to keep a lid on the situation. Unfortunately, it seems inevitable that things will boil-over and blow-up, in the Mighty Marvel Tradition!
Straczynski’s chief inspiration for Spider-Man vs. The Secret Sixteen was “the amount of destruction that comes when heroes and villains lock horns.” Thinking on the cliché gave him an idea a “What If?” that has nothing to do with alternate realities. “What if the owner of a popular restaurant has run it into the ground and needs the place to be destroyed for the insurance money, and invites a ton of heroes and villains to dine all at the same time in the hope that a fight breaks out? What if initially everyone tries to stay calm to enjoy the experience, but sooner or later, with that roster… the storm comes.”
(Image Source: Marvel / Phil Noto)
Straczynski added that Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Sixteen was probably “the most fun book to write” of the series. “Given the mandate of this book, to show unlikely combinations, this was the ultimate and only possible conclusion. Put everyone into one 30-page story, roll in a grenade, and see what happens.”
Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Sixteen #1 arrives in comic shops everywhere on July 30, 2025.