Olivia Wilde has been tapped to direct an untitled Spider-Man movie for Marvel and Sony, leading to speculation the film could focus on Spider-Woman. Sony's spent the last several years trying to develop the extensive collection of Spider-Man adjacent characters they own into feature film franchises. The studio had a hit with Venom in 2018, and already has a sequel on the way. Next, Sony's counting on Jared Leto to lead Morbius to box office victory. Meanwhile, they've had a tough time getting a Black Cat and Silver Sable movie, called Silver & Black, off the ground, especially after the last iteration of the film lost its director, Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Spider-Woman has had several secret identities throughout the character's comic book run. The most well-known woman-turned-web-crawler is Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, who dropped the identity in the 80s only to reappear in the 2000s. Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, Charlotte Witter, and a shape-shifting Skrull named Veranke have all taken on the Spider-Woman mantle as well.
There's no telling which version of the character Wilde intends to use, or even if she's going to direct a Spider-Woman movie at all. Deadline reports Wilde has closed a deal to "direct and develop" a female-centric Marvel movie. Sony didn't comment on the news, and it's still unconfirmed if the film will be about Spider-Woman, but Deadline says that's the direction the film is "expected" to take. Wilde practically confirmed the news tweeting out the news with a Spider emoji attached.
Whatever the movie ends up being, Wilde will write it with her writing partner Katie Silberman. Amy Pascal will produce the secret project alongside executive producer Rachel O'Connor. With Black & Silver currently on hold, Wilde's Untitled Marvel movie will join director S.J. Clarkson's Madame Web movie as Sony's second female-focused superhero entry in the Spider-Man franchise.
While it seems Spider-Woman is the leading contender for Wilde to tackle, there's always the possibility she has a fresh take on Silver & Black or another female character from Spider-Man's tangled web of associates. Perhaps Wilde is a fan of Spider-Gwen, a character who became an instant fan-favorite after making her big-screen debut in the animated hit Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. There's been talk of giving Spider-Gwen a spin-off solo movie ever since Spider-Verse raked in big numbers at the box office, and Wilde's success with the female-driven, coming-of-age film Booksmart might make her the perfect choice for a live-action Spider-Gwen movie.
All that said, it's much more likely Sony would want to focus their time developing a Spider-Woman franchise to parallel the success of the Spider-Man movies, a character they're still sharing with Marvel Studios. Either way, Wilde is an exciting choice to write and direct a superhero film centered on a female character, and more information about this project can't come fast enough.
Source: Deadline, Olivia Wilde via Twitter