Sony is once again taking steps to build a shared Marvel comic book cinematic universe of its own, centered around various characters from the world of Spider-Man. The studio is currently moving forward on a Venom movie due to begin filming this fall. On top of that, Sony is reportedly moving ahead with spinoff movies centered around Black Cat and Silver Sable, which will be written by Thor: Ragnarok writer Chris Yost. However, neither Venom nor the Black Cat Silver Sable movie are expected to be connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The MCU-based Marvel Studios/Sony coproduction Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into theaters this summer, but the latter studio is already pressing ahead with its own cinematic universe, based on properties independent of the Disney-backed MCU. Case in point, the Black Cat and Silver Sable movie is rumored to begin filming as early as this fall.

My Entertainment World is listing the Black Cat/Silver Sable movie as being an action/adventure feature that begin filming in the fall of 2017. The site also includes a brief introduction to each of the titular characters:

The film is about Silver Sable, a mercenary who runs a company that hunts war criminals. The character has been both antagonist and ally to Spider-Man. Black Cat is an acrobatic cat burglar named Felicia Hardy. The character has a long and tangled romantic history with Spider-Man.

Black Cat and Venom and Spider-Man

These connections to Spider-Man may come to nothing in the actual movie, should reports of Venom and Black Cat/Silver Sable being independent of the MCU prove accurate. While fans of Tom Holland's version of Peter Parker may be disappointed with these rumors, Sony's standalone projects might benefit from having less oversight from the family-focused Disney Studios. Logan and Deadpool have paved the way for more R rated superhero movies and Sony is reportedly looking to tap into that (now, hugely successful) niche, with plans for the Venom movie to be an R-rated launchpad for the Sony Marvel universe.

Sony has started down the darker path with its characters before though, with Andrew Garfield's version of Spider-Man initially intended to launch both a Venom film and Sinister Six team-up movie. That failed project might make the studio wary of building towards a spectacular event-based franchise akin to the MCU. Sony could instead focus on separate one-off films that eschew continuity and interconnectivity, in favor of focused individual movies. Silver Sable and Black Cat could thus exist entirely outside of not only the MCU, but also the Venom project due to begin filming around the same time.

NEXT: Which Version of Venom Should Get a Solo Movie?

Source: My Entertainment World

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