Cindy Moon made her Marvel comic book debut in 2014. In the six years since, she's appeared on numerous superhero teams and had two of her own solo series as the heroine Silk. A spider-hero spinning out of Peter Parker's own backstory, Silk has become a popular character in her own right.
Though the heroine isn't slated to get her own live-action movie in the near future, she is rumored to have a place in Sony's live-action universe based around Spider-Man characters. The studio is considering a television series based around the character that could air through a streaming service. Fans can learn a little bit more about her before her next appearance on-screen.
When Did Silk First Appear In Comics?
Cindy Moon's 2014 debut happened in the first issue of that year's new volume of Amazing Spider-Man. The catch is that her character didn't initially appear as a costumed hero. Instead, over the next few issues, she often appeared in shadow or in silhouette .
It's not until the fourth issue of the series that Cindy's identity as Silk was made clear. She asked Peter Parker to call her that when she spun her own costume and mask out of webs for the first time.
What's Her Connection To Supernatural?
It might seem strange to think that a recently created Marvel comic book character has a connection to the longest-running CW drama. But she does.
Long-time comic book writer Dan Slott is credited with the creation of Silk since she debuted in his Spider-Man run. Her first solo series, however, is written by Robbie Thompson; that series debuted in 2015. Thompson was best known at the time as a writer for Supernatural. He originally worked as a story editor on the TV series before becoming a writer and producer, working on the show until 2016.
Why Didn't Peter Know Someone Else Got The Spider Bite?
Silk's origin story added an element to Spider-Man's that many fans didn't think about in that he wasn't the only person bitten by a radioactive spider. The two were bitten by the same spider, as revealed in her first few comics book appearances. So why didn't Peter know?
Silk is found and trained by Ezekiel Sims — and kept in a sealed bunker for several years. Peter doesn't know much about her at the time. Since she's in hiding as Ezekiel tries to keep her from Morlun, Peter doesn't learn about her also having the same spider bite until he goes looking for her.
How Are Silk's Powers Different From Spider-Man's?
Since both heroes received a bite from the same spider, they have a lot of the same abilities; they can both run up walls, have a sense of impending danger, increased agility and stamina, and more. There are, however, a few differences.
Cindy, for example, creates her own organic webbing. In most of the newer versions of Peter's story, he has to create a chemical formula for webbing and attach web shooters to his costume. Cindy's webbing is also insulated against electricity, but Peter's is not. Likewise, Cindy can use her ability to produce organic webbing to also produce claw-like protrusions from her hands to use in a fight.
What Teams Has She Been On In Her Short Time In Comics?
Despite only being in Marvel comics for a short time, Cindy has had no shortage of team participation; she's been invited to several.
Aside from partnering up with Peter in her early appearances, Cindy also became part of the Spider Army, a team of spider-powered heroes from around the multiverse. She also teams up with several Asian-American heroes, including Kamala Khan and Amadeus Cho, to become the Protectors. Cindy is one of the reserve members of the Champions, worked as an undercover member of Black Cat's Gang, and became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. That's a lot in such a short time.
Has She Ever Appeared In Animation?
Though a lot of spider-related characters have appeared in Marvel's animated series over the years, Cindy isn't one of them. She also isn't one of the heroes to appear in Sony's Into The Spider-Verse with Miles Morales.
Cindy is, however, expected to appear in a movie related to Into The Spider-Verse. A female-centric film featuring Spider-Gwen is supposed to be on the way and it will include Spider-Woman and Silk.
Are Silk's Multiverse Counterparts Heroes Too?
Thanks to movies like Into The Spider-Verse and TV events like Crisis On Infinite Earths, even superhero fans who aren't familiar with comic book multiverses have an idea of how they work. Because Silk has only existed in comics since 2014, not a lot of her multiverse counterparts have been explored.
In fact, so far, the one fans have seen in the comics isn't heroic. Instead, Silk of Earth-65 is a villain. She even uses the technology at her disposal to take away Spider-Gwen's powers at one point. Cindy comes face to face with her evil counterpart and has to help defeat her.
Does She Have A High School Diploma?
Since Cindy attended school with Peter Parker, fans would assume she graduated with him as well, right? Technically, no.
Cindy spends the last of her time in high school in a secure underground bunker, believing that isolating herself will prevent Morlun from attacking her and endangering the world. She never actually graduates from high school, though she does apply and gets accepted to the prestigious Oxford University at one point.
What Does Her Name Mean?
In the days of Stan Lee creating comic book heroes, a lot of characters had alliterative names, like Reed Richards and Peter Parker, to make them easier to remember. While Cindy Moon isn't alliterative, her name does have an interesting meaning.
"Cindy" can be a derivative of "Lucinda," which means "light." That probably doesn't have any correlation to her comic book character. Her surname, "Moon," however, might. Most commonly, the surname means "writing" in Korean, but if written a different way, it can also mean "door" or "gate." That could be a nod to her spending years behind a locked door.
Has Cindy Moon Appeared In The Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Sony owns the screen rights to Spider-Man and his associated characters, but they became "shared" between Sony and Marvel Studios with Spider-Man's inclusion in Captain America: Civil War. That means there are a lot of Spider-Man characters in the MCU that fans might not have noticed.
Silk hasn't donned a costume and saved lives in the MCU, but her civilian counterpart has appeared on-screen. She's one of Peter's classmates in Spider-Man: Homecoming, played by Tiffany Espensen. She also appeared in Avengers: Infinity War on the school bus carrying Peter and his classmates, but she hasn't been seen since.