Mister Sinister

Writer Chris Claremont conceived Sinister as a new villain for the X-Men. Having felt "tired of just going back to Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the same old same old" Claremont recalled:

Dave Cockrum and I went over ideas, and what we were coming towards was a mysterious young boy—apparently an 11-year-old—at the orphanage where Scott (Cyclops) was raised, who turned out to be the secret master of the place. In effect what we were setting up was a guy who was aging over a lifespan of roughly a thousand years. Even though he looked like an 11-year-old, he'd actually been alive since the mid-century at this point—he was actually about 50 [...] He had all the grown up urges. He's growing up in his mind but his body isn't capable of handling it, which makes him quite cranky. And, of course, looking like an 11-year-old, who'd take him seriously in the criminal community? [...] So he built himself an agent in a sense, which was Mister Sinister, that was, in effect, the rationale behind Sinister's rather—for want of a better word—childish or kid-like appearance. The costume... the look... the face... it's what would scare a child. Even when he was designed, he wasn't what you'd expect in a guy like that.[4]

Mister Sinister was first mentioned by the assassin Sabretooth as the employer behind the team of assassins known as the Marauders in The Uncanny X-Men #212 (December 1986), which was part of the 1986 "Mutant Massacre" storyline, in which Sinister ordered the Marauders to kill the Morlocks living beneath New York City.[5] In the next issue, Mr. Sinister is first glimpsed in silhouette when the telepathic X-Man Psylocke scans Sabretooth's mind.[6] Mister Sinister finally appeared on-panel in issue #221 (September 1987), drawn by Marc Silvestri. The character plays a major role in the "Inferno" storyline, where it is revealed that Sinister cloned Madelyne Pryor from Jean Grey for the purpose of having her conceive a child with Cyclops, their son Nathan;[7] Sinister is also revealed to have manipulated Cyclops' life since early childhood. After a battle with the X-Men and X-Factor, the villain is apparently destroyed by Cyclops' optic beam.[8]

The backup stories in the reprint series Classic X-Men #41–42 (Dec. 1989) detail the role Mister Sinister played in Cyclops' life at the orphanage in Nebraska. The story features a boy named Nathan who is obsessively fixated on Cyclops, which Claremont intended to actually be Mister Sinister. However, as Claremont left the X-Men comics, this origin was never revealed in-story.[9]

Mister Sinister returns in the title X-Factor, leading the Nasty Boys[13] and has allied himself with the mutant terrorist Stryfe.[14] In the storyline "X-Cutioner's Song", the character impersonates Apocalypse and uses his Four Horsemen to capture Cyclops and Jean Grey.[15] Sinister hands them over to Stryfe in exchange for a canister containing his genetic material,[16] but finds it empty, unknowingly unleashing the Legacy Virus in the process.[17] Afterwards, Sinister confronts Cyclops to reveal that the canister contained the deadly Legacy Virus. It was during this conversation, that Sinister said, "I care enough to wish you and your brothers to be protected from this illness", but he corrected himself in saying that he meant "brother".[18]

In 1996, Mister Sinister's origin story is told in the limited series, The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. It establishes the character as Nathaniel Essex, a scientist from the 19th century obsessed with evolution who made a pact with the ancient mutant Apocalypse to become a virtually immortal being.[19] It is furthermore establishes that Mister Sinister created Cyclops's son Nathan, who becomes the time-traveling soldier Cable, in order to destroy Apocalypse.[20]

It was also revealed that Sinister had initiated the Morlock Massacre because he saw his signature in them (as many of them were experiments of Dark Beast, a student of Mr. Sinister from an alternate timeline known as the Age of Apocalypse), and he would not allow unauthorized use of his theories, so they were slaughtered.[21] Though some of his Marauders did not survive the battle, many of them returned thanks to Sinister's genetics mastery and the fact that he had multiple clones of all of them.[22] He also considered doing the same with the Genosha mutates, who were experiments of Sugar Man (another student of his Age of Apocalypse counterpart). Yet in the end he did not because the mutates were sterile and so in his opinion, they were not a tainting of his work.[21]

Another running storyline for the character was his mysterious ties to the X-Man Gambit; these ties were first introduced in X-Men v2 #6 when Sabretooth encountered Gambit and the X-Men and implied that the two had a history working together.[23] When Rogue briefly absorbed Gambit's memories,[24] she realized the relationship between the two: that Gambit had been an agent of Mister Sinister, recruiting Sabretooth and several other villains, to serve as Sinister's Marauders.[25] Furthermore, he had served as a guide for the group in the tunnels, before abandoning the villains upon discovering their plans on wiping out the Morlocks. His payment for these deeds would be Mister Sinister's services as a scientist, to correct a genetic defect regarding Gambit's powers that was causing him to slowly lose control over them.[26]

Mister Sinister appears in the title Gambit;[27] besides revealing the connection between the two characters, Mister Sinister would provide Gambit with a chemical compound designed to neutralize the genetic modification process that the Skrulls were using as part of their infiltration process of Earth, as the alien shapeshifters had formed an alliance with Apocalypse to conquer Earth.[28] It was also revealed that Mister Sinister had genetically altered the villain the Living Monolith, allowing him to access Havok's power, in order to serve as replacement for Havok in Apocalypse's plan to harvest the power of The Twelve. Following Apocalypse's defeat, Sinister attempts to use the High Evolutionary's space station to mutate the human population but is stopped by the X-Men.[29]

Sinister's actions would have worldwide repercussions: by helping High Evolutionary strip all of mutantkind of their powers, Sinister unknowingly wiped out a community of evolved mutants known as The Neo.[30] The surviving Neo began hunting Sinister down, forcing Sinister to go into hiding as the Neo known as Domina (whose daughter was one of the dead) kills over 17 Sinister doppelgangers left behind by Sinister as he goes into hiding.[31]

Sinister would resurface in the pages of Weapon X, experimenting on mutants under the guise of Dr. Robert Windsor.[32] It is revealed that the character worked alongside the Nazis during World War II and created a clone of Namor called N2 which was destroyed by Captain America.[33] He would be accompanied by the Marauder Scalphunter in the series, with Scalphunter serving as his bodyguard.

Mister Sinister reappears in the "X-Men: Endangered Species" storyline, sending the Marauders and Acolytes out to murder all those who have knowledge of the future;[34] In the "X-Men: Messiah Complex" storyline, Sinister, leading a mob of many of the remaining evil mutants, seeks out the first mutant child born since Decimation (also known as "M-Day", when the Scarlet Witch de-powered most of the world's mutant population). However, the character is apparently killed by Mystique, who presses his face onto an unconscious Rogue, whose powers had been amplified into an instantaneous death-touch.[35]

Some years ago, Kraven made a deal with Mister Sinister. He and the Blob tracked down the X-Men, and they fought the united forces of Spider-Man and the original X-Men. Kraven fled after a short battle, but not before wounding each member of the X-Men. Kraven returned to Sinister, with genetic samples from Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast. Furthermore, Sinister requested a sample of his DNA.[36] Mister Sinister later cut a deal with Carnage in order to obtain a sample of the Carnage Symbiote. After removing the sentience from the Carnage symbiote sample, Mister Sinister combined it with the DNA of the original X-Men and Kraven the Hunter where he will use this creation on a later date.[37] Years later after the death of Kraven, an ex-Morlock who had kept his powers post M-Day named Joe Buggs was murdered by a mysterious mutant hunter. His friend Ed (who had lost his powers) went to the X-Men for help. He claimed that the man who killed Buggs was Kraven the Hunter. Although they were skeptical about Kraven's apparent resurrection, the X-Men called on the help of Spider-Man, who had battled Kraven many times over the years. After discussing the battle that they had with Kraven years ago and the fact that he had given samples of the X-Men's DNA to Sinister for cloning, the lights went out on the wing where they were located. The hunter attacked and quickly dispatched Colossus but was held at bay by Spider-Man's webbing. He broke free claiming his name is Xraven as was able to defeat Cyclops and Shadowcat, holding her hostage, giving the ultimatum that he would kill her if they did not surrender. Spider-Man insulted Xraven, claiming that Kraven would never threaten a helpless girl. Xraven was momentarily fazed by his comment, but attacked again, claiming that he is the "favored one". Cyclops realizes Xraven's weakness and tells him that Mister Sinister sees him as nothing but a pawn. He tells Xraven to read his mind, in order for him to see the kind of a man Sinister really is. After Xraven sees Cyclops' memories, he flees but the X-Men become aware of the fact that he was able to get DNA samples from Shadowcat, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine. Returning to Mister Sinister with the samples, Mister Sinister tells him that he planned to clone a new generation of mutants, and that he would unite all mutantkind. After seeing what Sinister's real intentions were in Cyclops' memories, Xraven destroys the samples, claiming that Mister Sinister would breed slaves as opposed to warriors, and Xraven attacks him.[38]

Miss Sinister in X-Men Legacy #214 (September 2008). Art by Scot Eaton.

The series X-Men: Legacy reveals that Mister Sinister had been anticipating his physical death for some time, putting events in motion that would lead to his resurrection. It was even revealed that besides the Summers family, Mister Sinister had also been manipulating for some time events in the Xavier family as well as the Marko, Ryking and Shaw families. By using the Cronus Device, he manages to implant within their DNA the seeds through which to ensure his own rebirth. Then he transferred his own consciousness and powers to the machine which after his death would activate itself and his consciousness would take control over the body with his DNA imprint.[39] When that happened, Sinister's consciousness took control over Professor Xavier's body to save him from a gunshot wound.[40] However, the combined efforts of Sebastian Shaw and Gambit destroy the machine, enabling Xavier to successfully drive Sinister's consciousness from his mind and body. At the end, a female character appears called Miss Sinister.[41] Her name is revealed to be Claudine Renko, and she possesses telepathy and a healing factor similar to Sinister, but not all the memories or mind due to the fact that she was engineered to be Mister Sinister's fail-safe in the event of the Cronus Device would fail. When that ultimately occurred, Claudine was activated.[42]

Later X-23 (Laura Kinney), flanked by Gambit, encounters a young girl named Alice and witnesses her being murdered, though the next day Alice appears to them somehow alive. Encouraging them to follow her to a peculiar desert laboratory, Alice introduces them to her employer/owner/adoptive mother, Claudine. Revealing herself openly to X-23, Claudine explains that Alice is also a clone, fourth of a series of five created by Essex as another experiment alongside several other children that live in the complex. Claudine later on approaches Gambit and the latter having left the X-Men's base to strike out on her own, seemingly asking for the former's help. Claudine at this point seems to be suffering from injuries inflicted earlier by Wolverine's son Daken. A near fatal strike from X-23 reveals the nature of the injury as Claudine's body morphs into that of Mister Sinister.[43]

Mister Sinister then incapacitates Gambit and X-23 but is quickly re-absorbed back into Miss Sinister who then straps X-23 to a peculiar chair and expands upon her own origins, stating that while everyone believes her to be merely a clone of the mad scientist, in truth she actually was an ordinary woman with her own personality, mind and dreams, but in her search for immortality she allowed herself to be infected with a virus which would grant her a healing factor, however while the virus was apparently ineffective, Claudine would learn later that the virus actually was engineered to transform her into a host of Mister Sinister as it contained his own DNA and thus his immensely powerful telepathic powers, which would lead to his resurrection. When the Cronus Device failed, the virus was automatically activated and Claudine was compelled to go to the laboratory in the desert, where she would be used as a host for Essex. Claudine believed she had been able to stop the process, possessing only vague, but invasive memories of Essex's life, but learned later that she had only delayed the inevitable. Now everything that makes Claudine is being swallowed by the malignant presence of Essex within her mind, and in order to free herself of Sinister and prevent her own death, she aims to switch bodies with X-23, thus inheriting Laura's healing factor, something she had always wanted. The plan backfires when Essex controls Laura's body and uses her to mortally wound Claudine again. Laura manages to overcome Essex's presence in her mind, expelling it through force of will. Laura, Alice and Gambit manage to escape the laboratory as it collapses and arrange for the children to be given new homes before setting off on their journey again. However, in the wreckage left behind, Claudine is still alive, although just barely, and is being watched over by the fifth Alice clone, the new host of Essex.[44]

When next seen Miss Sinister found herself within the company of the reality displaced X-Men of a dead universe. One in particular who came into her graces by the name of Jimmy Hudson had been hiding a secret within his D.N.A., a sort of genetic anomaly that would enable her to create and control spontaneous mutation with time to experiment on it.[45] Over the following months Claudine would find that this substance called Mothervine was originally conceived for the purpose of controlled mutant child births, after further study she found it could also be used to cause further advancement evolution's within natural born mutants or trigger mutation in non-mutants.[46] But the secondary and primary mutations caused were debilitating to the point of being lethal, a great many she tested it on would die during the procedure.[47]

Mister Sinister in Extraordinary X-Men #2 (January 2016). Art by Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba.

Mister Sinister was eventually able to fully possess the fifth clone of Alice as he resurfaced in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #544. Now dressed in Victorian era garb and using his knowledge gained from Apocalypse, he merges with the Dreaming Celestial and warps its head to match his own, using the power he gained as a result to turn San Francisco's residents into doppelgangers of himself resembling 19th century England, where he believes society was perfect. His plan is to disturb the Celestials so that they would come to Earth and eradicate all life, leaving only his perfection to rebuild the planet. However, Sinister is defeated and forced out from San Francisco.[48]

During the "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, Mister Sinister is discovered to have built his own city (based on Victorian-era London) in the Moloids' tunnels within Subterranea. The city is inhabited solely by clones of Mister Sinister and his various acquaintances, including Cyclops, Madelyne Pryor, Gambit, Mystique and Krakoa. Also populating the city are clones of the Phalanx, clones of Sabretooth called "Hounds", and clones of the Marauders, who function as Battalion Guards. After disposing of a rebel clone, he explains to one of his other clones that he has foreseen that the Phoenix Force would come after Hope Summers, and that the Avengers would try to stop it and clash with the X-Men, resulting in the Phoenix Five. He also knows that the Phoenix Five will soon come after him and intends to take the Phoenix energy away from them by using a group of Madelyne Pryor clones.[49]

During a meeting of the Extinction Team, the Phoenix Five reveal to Magneto, Storm, Psylocke and Danger (who is still controlled by UNIT) that Mister Sinister is the one who told Hope about the Phoenix Force, and ponder on the danger that his goals may represent to the world. The Phoenix Five leave their teammates behind and track Mister Sinister to Anchorage, Alaska (Cyclops's birthplace) finding out that he built his city in the tunnels beneath Anchorage. Mister Sinister has also formed his cloned army. He then orders his clones to enter into war against the Phoenix Five.[50] One by one, the Phoenix Five members are taken down by Mister Sinister's cloned creatures (including a clone of Krakoa) until only Cyclops remains, and even he is eventually defeated by the Madelyne Pryor clones. Shortly after, Magneto, Storm, Psylocke and Danger arrive at Mister Sinister's city and find out that their teammates were captured.[51] However, the Phoenix Five are able to escape and decide to kill each and every clone of Sinister, ending the threat he posed to mutantkind.[52]

Yet in the aftermath of "Avengers vs. X-Men," it is revealed that the threat of Sinister still goes on as he appears alive and well when he engages in a tête-à-tête with an imprisoned Cyclops. Sinister tells Cyclops that he had actually thought he could indeed keep the Phoenix chained, yet as confident as he was it was always possible there were holes in his data set. And so, before all that, at some point he surprised Katie Kildare, Cyclops' PR agent, and killed her. He then created a para-personality of her, took Katie's position in Utopia and left a secondary Sinister in charge of his kingdom. Sinister also reveals that the para-personality he created of Katie would only dissolve once the Phoenix had gone and his own would reemerge. Sinister even provides a final dilemma for Cyclops to think about: Sinister may have lost his empire, his blessed creation engines, his backups, his Madelynes. He is on his own, but Cyclops just knows that no one else can stop him.[53]

It is later revealed that Sinister managed to infiltrate the Jean Grey School through one of its students, Ernst. Ernst provided Sinister with access to DNA samples from the mutants within the institute in exchange for providing her friend Martha Johannesen with a new body. His efforts were ultimately foiled by the students and Spider-Man, whose help was sought by Logan after the latter had become aware of the mole's existence. Sinister manages to escape although his samples are destroyed.[54]

During the "Last Days" part of the "Secret Wars" storyline, it was mentioned months ago that Mister Sinister was among the scientists that Magneto's right-hand person Briar tried to contact in order to make a special cocktail to augment Magneto's powers for the upcoming incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610.[55]

With the release of the Terrigen Mist in the atmosphere of the Earth, it was discovered to be toxic to mutants after sustained exposure.[56] Mr. Sinister began experimenting on unwilling subjects, trying to make Inhuman and Mutant DNA co-exist in order to allow the creation of a genetically superior species of mutants. Sinister caught the attention of the X-Men after the disappearance of Colossus and Magik at the hands of the Marauders. When Sinister was confronted by the group of mutants, he deployed his only successful specimen, the seemingly-revived Cyclops. It is also revealed that he has several clones of Gambit, Cyclops, Cannonball, Sabretooth, Mystique, and several others which he maintains locked as his prize collection.[57] The revived Cyclops was, however, revealed to be actually another experiment of Sinister who combined Scott Summers' genetic material with Inhuman DNA. Mister Sinister soon discovers that the clone is unstable when the Inhuman DNA began overtaking the mutant DNA, and that the mutant race would therefore be doomed in the weeks to come. After the Cyclops clone is defeated and lifted high enough to explode, Mister Sinister is defeated by Colossus and Magik and handed over to the authorities.[58]

During the "Hunt for Wolverine" storyline, Mister Sinister crashes the auction in a submarine off the coast of Guam and attacks an unidentified seller for stealing the genetic material of the original Wolverine. The attack causes a hole in the submarine causing Spider-Man and Jessica Jones to use a combination of Spider-Man's webbing and Luke Cage to plug up the hole. As Tony Stark becomes Iron Man to save the seller from Mister Sinister, X-23 sheds her disguise and assists Iron Man in fighting Mister Sinister where she manages to slice off Mister Sinister's left hand.[59] After X-23 cuts off Mister Sinister's other hand causing him to retreat, the auction attendees are evacuated to South Korea's National Intelligence Service Helicarrier as Iron Man, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Spider-Man and X-23 interrogate the seller whose name is Declan Fay. He directs them to the Kerguelen Islands where Mister Sinister is putting together a database. Upon arrival in special Iron Man armors and taking out the guards, Iron Man's group discovers that Mister Sinister has collected the genetic make-up of every person on Earth.[60] Mister Sinister attacks them where he has the appearance of having been attacked. After being stabbed by X-23, Mister Sinister revealed that a killteam showed up and stole his work while also revealing that he does not have Wolverine's body. When Mister Sinister claims to Iron Man that he is a man of science and to ignore his achievements would be scientific terrorism, Iron Man, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and X-23 destroy the database before escaping.[61]

Mister Sinister has since become obsessed with Iceman's newfound control and versatility of his abilities, kidnapping even the Morlock known as Ash and turning him into a mutant-fighting monster to pit against Bobby.[62]

Its revealed that at some point in the past, Sinister was approached by Professor Xavier and Magneto regarding the genetic collection of mutant DNA that he had acquired over the years. Xavier wanted Sinister's help in prioritizing all the material he had into a comprehensive database that would be safe, secure, and redundant. He offered to provide samples that Sinister would have trouble getting on his own including Magneto and himself (unaware that Sinister already had his DNA). Mister Sinister was not interested in the deal but was suddenly killed by another Sinister who was enticed by the proposal since he himself possessed a functional X-Gene. Sinister agreed to the compromise but ended up having his memories of the encounter repressed so he would be sent on his course without knowing Xavier and Magneto's involvement until the day they tell him to remember.[63] Along with other mutant villains, Sinister is welcomed to Krakoa by Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse. He joins the Quiet Council of Krakoa.[64]

However, it is not long before he finds himself bored with his status, and decided to resume his mutant DNA harvest for various nefarious purposes, but now, with the new laws of Krakoa established, Sinister cannot go about his usual business. While he is now bound by Professor X and the Quiet Council to obey their rules, he has found some wiggle room to play, setting his sights on a file about Franklin Richards.[65]

In the alternate timeline of the 1995–96 "Age of Apocalypse" storyline, Mister Sinister is one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen and the foster father of Cyclops and Havok.[71] He infiltrates Forge's travelling show under the alias "Essex" in an attempt to capture Nate Grey, also known as X-Man. To prevent X-Man from discovering his secret he murders Forge, who had figured out who he was.

In the alternate universe of the series Mutant X, it was revealed that Mr. Sinister had obtained the cocoon that held Jean Grey following her transformation into Phoenix. His attempts to mate Jean Grey with Professor X (who was Mr Sinister's prisoner as well and transformed into Onslaught) was foiled by Havok.

Mr. Sinister is one of the main villains of the miniseries X-Men: The End, blackmailing Gambit into kidnapping the children of Scott Summers and Emma Frost as well as his own children that he conceived with Rogue. During the storyline, Mister Sinister reveals that Gambit is a clone of himself and that his powers are a variation of Cyclops's, as Mr. Sinister implanted some of Cyclops's DNA into Gambit in hopes of duplicating Cyclops's powers. Mr Sinister shows himself to be capable of turning into an exact duplicate of Gambit, a power he uses to kill Rogue when the X-Men seek to rescue the kids. In the end, Mystique murders Mr. Sinister, avenging her adopted daughter's death. Gambit ultimately then takes it upon himself to impersonate Mr. Sinister in order to find out the identity of his accomplice, though he is quickly exposed.

A version of Mister Sinister appears in the 2005 "House of M" storyline and fights a dimension-hopping Deadpool over an infant Cable.[72]

In the alternate universe of the 1999 miniseries Earth X, an older Colossus reveals himself to have been Mister Sinister; in love with Jean Grey, he traveled back in time to preserve her as a clone.[73]

Sinister as depicted in Ultimate X-Men #46 (July 2004). Art by Brandon Peterson.

In the Ultimate X-Men series, Sinister/Nathaniel Essex is reimagined as a heavily tattooed street thug nicknamed after his tattoo. He is a former OsCorp scientist who experimented on himself and appears schizophrenic, hallucinating of a "Lord Apocalypse" who orders him to kill a number of mutants to complete his transformation.[74] After committing suicide,[75] Sinister returns to life, completes his mission and transforms into Apocalypse.[76] However, the Phoenix Force appears and destroys Apocalypse's body, revealing Sinister inside.[77] After the Ultimatum Wave, he reformed his body and got a job at Roxxon as part of their "brain trust",[78] and is in league with Layla Miller to find four specific mutants. He kidnaps Alex Summers from the mental hospital where he is institutionalized, and takes him to Layla Miller, who agrees that Alex knows who the "fourth mutant" is. She reminds Essex that they need to find two more mutants, and he states that they have entered into a contract with Rasputin.[79] Their mission never comes into fruition, as the entire Ultimate Universe came to an end as a consequence of a phenomenon known as an incursion.[80]

The character features in the alternative universe title What If? issues #46 - 47 (Feb. – Mar. 1993); #74 (June 1995) and #100 (Sept. 1997).

Mister Sinister appeared as the main antagonist in the four issue limited series X-Men/Spider-Man. In the first issue, set in the 1960s comics, he hires Kraven the Hunter, who, along with the Blob, fight Spider-Man and the original X-Men. Kraven obtains blood samples of each of the X-Men and escapes while The Blob is frozen by Iceman. Kraven brings the blood samples to Sinister, who asks Kraven for his own DNA.[36] In the second issue, taking place after the Kraven's Last Hunt storyline, Spider-Man, wearing the black costume, searches the now-dead Kraven's files and finds mention of Mister Sinister. He brings the files to the new X-Men, who, along with Spider-Man, fight the Marauders while investigating the location where Kraven and Sinister last met in search for further clues to their connection. At the end of the issue, Sinister is seen visiting Kraven the Hunter's grave.[81] In the third issue, set during the time while Ben Reilly had taken up the mantle of Spider-Man, Sinister is first seen fighting the X-Men. Mister Sinister attempts to obtain some of Carnage's DNA, but both are interrupted by Spider-Man and the X-Men. Sinister escapes, and Carnage is returned to his prison cell.[37] In the fourth and final issue, Mister Sinister creates a clone of Kraven, using the DNA of himself, Kraven, and the original X-Men. The clone calls itself Xraven. After fighting Spider-Man and the X-Men, only to be confronted by Spider-Man about his lack of honor compared to his template, Xraven battles Mister Sinister.[38]

In the X-Men Forever series, Essex is still an immortal over a century old. However, he is stuck in the body of a ten-year-old child. Sinister is actually a combination of armored suit/hologram used by Essex to command the Maurauders, reasoning no one would follow his true appearance. He poses as a child at a science lab that uses young mutants and targets Scott Summers's son, Chris. The series ends with Chris being kidnapped on orders from Sinister.

Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister is referenced in the X-Men film series.

In X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), James Howlett / Logan / Wolverine is subject to the Weapon X experimentation at Alkali Lake, where ultimately Col. William Stryker brainwashes Wolverine and attempts to control with mechanical headgear before being released by the young X-Men. A post-credits scene shows employees of Essex searching the Weapon X facility labs for DNA. Upon finding vials of his blood, the men begin putting them into briefcases. Producer and writer Simon Kinberg in interviews has stated that this scene was included to hint what direction the X-Men film universe would be taking in future X-Men films.[82]

Bryan Singer had stated the character would make his first on-screen appearance in Logan (2017) but the character did not appear in the film.[83]

The Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation is featured in Deadpool 2 (2018) as an orphanage that abuses and tortures the mutant children in its care,[84] including Russell Collins and Domino.

Mister Sinister appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Christopher Britton. As in the comics, this version was a scientist born in the Victorian era who works toward pushing mutantkind to its next stage evolution, and who has harbored a lifelong focus on Scott Summers / Cyclops, Jean Grey and Charles Xavier / Professor X, with whose ancestors he was acquainted. His own mutation into Mr. Sinister came about not through Apocalypse, but his own experiments. As in the comics, he is vulnerable to optic blasts from Cyclops.

Mister Sinister appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men animated series, voiced by Clancy Brown. This version is described to be a mutant instead of a mutate. In the episode "eXcessive Force", he has his Marauders collect Mutant DNA by force in his plot to create 'the ultimate mutant'. In the episode "Guardian Angel", Sinister is the one who turns Warren Worthington III into Archangel and it's revealed that he works for Apocalypse. At the end of the episode "Foresight (Part 3)", he is shown with the "Age of Apocalypse" future ruled by Apocalypse.

• Mister Sinister appears briefly in X2: Wolverine's Revenge, voiced by Christopher Corey Smith.[85] In a mid-credits scene, he is shown to be working for Apocalypse and it is revealed that they have been watching Wolverine throughout the events of the entire game. His backstory is also expanded upon slightly through in-game material.
• Mister Sinister appears as a boss in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, voiced by Daniel Riordan.[85] He is once again shown to be a servant of Apocalypse who experiments on Genoshan prisoners. Mister Sinister mind-controls Beast and has him kidnap Sabretooth, before escaping with them and Apocalypse to Egypt. There, the X-Men eventually fight and defeat Sinister, freeing Beast from his control. After Apocalypse is defeated and the X-Men leave victorious, Sinister is shown laughing evily on the top of a pyramid, implying that he sabotaged Apocalypse's machine to ensure his defeat at the hands of the X-Men.
• Mister Sinister appears as a boss in Marvel Heroes, voiced by Steven Blum.[85]
• Mister Sinister appears as the main antagonist and final boss in the Deadpool video game,[86] voiced by Keith Ferguson.[85] He is shown to be in charge of the Marauders - Blockbuster, Arclight and Vertigo - and his main base of operations is on the abadoned Genosha island. He also has access to advanced cloning technology that allowed him to create an army of cloned mutant soldiers using DNA from various X-Men members and other mutants, as well as several clones of himself. His generic plan is to take over the Earth, although Cable, having time-travelled from the future, claims that his plan will unintentionally destroy the world instead. Sinister is first shown meeting in the sewers with media mogul Chance White, who was rescued by the Marauders after being defeated by Deadpool and whom he recruited because he needs his satellites for his plans. Deadpool stumbles upon the meeting just as Sinister is informed that White's satellites are under his control and orders Blockbuster to kill him, as he no longer needs him. This angers Deadpool, as he lost his bounty on White's head, and he confronts Sinister, killing Vertigo and knocking out Blockbuster in the process, but Sinister uses his powers to reduce Deadpool to a disembodied head, leaving him to regenerate unconscious whilist he escapes with Blockbuster. Deadpool later kills a clone of Sinister on Genosha inside a security tower broadcasting a signal to keep the X-Men unconscious, and another when he sneaks around the underground mutant prison to rescue Rogue. Eventually, Deadpool arrives at Sinister's hideout at Magneto's old citadel, where he kills his last remaining soldiers, along with clones of the Marauders and a group of Sinister clones. The real Mister Sinister then shows up and easily subdues the X-Men, but is killed by Deadpool, who tricks him to stand out in the open in order for a giant Sentinel boot to crush him.
• Mister Sinister appears as a boss in the Facebook game Marvel Avengers Alliance.