RUMOR MILL: This information is strictly RUMOR for now, so take everything with a grain of salt.
Just days ago, word emerged that Sony had scheduled an unidentified Marvel movie to be released on October 8, 2021. The studio already has ‘Morbius’ due on July 30 of this year, and ‘Venom 2’ is expected on October 2. (The latter just wrapped filming yesterday.)
Sony’s web continues to grow.
UNTITLED SONY/MARVEL pic now set for Oct. 8, 2021.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. 2: Box Office Boogaloo (@ERCboxoffice) February 11, 2020
Sony has the rights to all characters related to Spider-Man. ‘Venom’ was the first film to deliver one of them, and ‘Morbius’ will be the next, but over the years, Sony has teased movies featuring Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, Silk, Black Cat, Silver Sable, and Black Cat & Silver Sable combined.
But now scooper Daniel Richtman has shared a RUMOR on Twitter:
Two months ago I heard they are developing a Spider-Woman movie so it’s likely that one that is set for next year. Maybe
— Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) February 11, 2020
There may be more to this than idle chatter. Another GOSSIP source, Illuminerdi, reports that Sony would like Michelle MacLaren to direct. This would be her feature film debut, but she has helmed episodes of ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Better Call Saul’, and ‘Breaking Bad’. At one point, she was in the running to direct ‘Wonder Woman’.
And reportedly, Alicia Vikander (‘Tomb Raider’) is the studio’s top pick to play the lead character, who looks to be Jessica Drew.
There have been multiple Spider-Women in Marvel’s history, but the most famous is Drew, a character that actually has almost nothing to do with Spider-Man. In fact, the character was hastily thrown together by Stan Lee, Archie Goodwin, and Marie Severin, after it was learned that Filmation planned to release a Saturday morning cartoon named ‘Spider-Woman’. Marvel rushed out their own ‘Spider-Woman’ and even gave her an animated series in order to secure the copyright before Filmation could. (Filmation’s version became ‘Web-Woman’.)
In her first origin, Jessica Drew was an actual spider that was mutated into a human. That was quickly discarded and although her origin has been revised multiple times, generally speaking, she is a human, who gained powers due to her parents’ scientific research.
According to Illuminerdi, the film’s plot would depict Jessica, who discovers she is dying after exposure to uranium. To save her life, she undergoes an experimental procedure, modeled after the physiology of a spider. She is placed inside a genetic accelerator, but she isn’t released until decades later. She hasn’t aged but now possesses incredible powers.
In the comics, her powers have varied over the years, but generally, she possesses super strength, speed, and agility, like Spider-Man, and she can also cling to walls. She wore wings on her old costume to glide on air currents, but nowadays, she can fly outright. She also fires electrical bolts she calls “Venom Blasts,” and emits pheromones that can manipulate others’ emotions.
But connecting to the film’s potential plot, she is also immune to radiation and toxins. Hmmm…
(Once again, though, this is all just RUMOR for now.)
Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman is reportedly going to be featured in an animated movie called ‘Spider-Women’, teamed up with Hailee Steinfeld’s Spider-Gwen (from ‘Into the Spider-Verse’), and Silk.
Judging by the trailer for ‘Morbius’, it appears that going forward, Sony’s ‘Spider-Man’-related movies will have some connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After the successes of ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Captain Marvel’, it makes sense for Sony to try and create its own strong female superhero, but after the underperformance of ‘Birds of Prey’, that might be a riskier prospect than the studio expected.
What do you think of a live-action ‘Spider-Woman’ movie?
