It was in 2020 that we first learned of Sony Pictures' plans to move forward with a Spider-Woman movie from filmmaker (and actress) Olivia Wilde. Updates have been few and far between ever since, and the studio's attentions eventually turned to the female-led Madame Web.
That didn't feature Jessica Drew, but did put the spotlight on Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin, three characters who have held either the Spider-Girl or Spider-Woman mantle in the comics over the years.
The trades reported that Sony had put its various Spider-Man spin-off movies on pause after Kraven the Hunter bombed, and Daniel Richtman is now reporting that Wilde's Spider-Woman has also been scrapped.
This is unlikely to generate too much disappointment, especially when so much of Jessica's comic book history is tied up with S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers. Rumours have persisted for years that, like Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, Marvel Studios could also use Jessica, albeit without the Spider-Woman name, but there may be some good news on that front.
According to Richtman, Sony is now more open to sharing its characters with Marvel Studios. Previously, the studio blocked them from using Kraven the Hunter in Black Panther, for example. And, after finding success with Venom, the Lethal Protector was also off-limits until those awkward, seemingly Sony-mandated crossovers in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
With reports that Marvel Studios has big plans for the Symbiote in the trilogy that begins with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it seems we can expect to see Venom in the MCU, along with characters like Black Cat, Silver Sable, and more of those who had been earmarked for their own Sony-produced disasters.
Back to Spider-Woman, and Wilde said this in 2020 about the movie that's now unlikely to ever see the light of day:
"Look, we are seeing this incredible influx of female directors and storytellers getting to take hold of this genre, of the superhero space, and infuse it with their own perspective. So, not only do I get to tell this story as a director, but I get to develop this story, and that was what made it so incredible for me."
"I'm just honored to be amongst this wave of women who are showing up and saying, 'We are not only going to step in and try and tell this story like men do, we're actually going to reframe the stories themselves.' And the industry is, as far as I can tell, really supportive of that. There is a sea change and it's because of these decades of trailblazers who demanded this over and over and over again and it's finally broken through and I'm very fortunate to be there with it."
Which Sony-owned Marvel characters would you like to see make their presence felt in the MCU?