Sony Pictures Television is working on a TV series starring ancillary Spider-Man character Silk, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse) serving as executive producers and Lauren Moon in talks to write. Created by legendary Spider-Man writer Dan Slott, Silk was another teenager bitten by the radioactive spider that gave Peter Parker his powers. Unlike Spider-Man, though, she was forced to hide away for over a decade before finally emerging as a result of 2014's "Original Sin" event.
Since her debut in 2014, Silk has played a crucial role in several high-profile comic book events, most notably 2015's epic "Spider-Verse." She's one of Marvel's so-called "Legacy Heroes," a Korean-American girl whose life serves as an amusing mirror-image of Peter Parker's. She even wound up working for J. Jonah Jameson for a while, but he served as one of Silk's greatest champions, even as she tried to persuade the world she'd gone bad to infiltrate a crime cartel. There have been consistent reports Silk will appear on the big screen in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2, and she's also expected to appear in an all-female spinoff. But it seems Silk has a potential live-action future as well.
According to Variety, Sony Pictures Television is developing a live-action TV series starring Silk. Phil Lord and Chris Miller serve as executive producers, along with former Sony Pictures Entertainment head Amy Pascal. It's only early days right now, with Lauren Moon (Good Trouble, Atypical) in talks as a writer. Although no network or streaming service has yet signed up as a distributor, Amazon is reportedly interested in streaming Silk and other potential Marvel shows based on Spider-Man characters owned by Sony. According to Deadline, these discussions are complicated due to the web of multi-platform rights for the various Marvel heroes, and Silk is expected to land on a linear platform before going to Amazon for streaming.
This will surprise many Spider-Man fans because it's commonly been reported Sony returned the TV rights in return for concessions on their live-action films back in 2008. However, when a copy of the Marvel/Sony contract leaked in 2014, it revealed the truth was a lot more complicated. Sony still possesses the film rights to Spider-Man and all his associated characters, the rights for live-action TV series, and (randomly) the right to make animated TV shows with episodes longer than 44 minutes. Back in April 2019, Sony signed Lord and Miller on a five-year deal to develop Marvel TV shows, and Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra subsequently revealed Sony was developing five or six Spider-Man TV series. This naturally led to speculation some of Sony's rumored movies - such as those featuring Z-list characters such as Jackpot and Nightwatch, or even Silk - were actually destined for the small screen. It looks as though this was correct.
The interesting question will be whether the Silk TV series exists in the same universe as Sony's Spider-Man film properties, such as Venom or Morbius. If it does, then it may well only be a few degrees of separation away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself, which would undoubtedly leave Amazon intrigued. Hopefully, it won't be long before there's more news.
Source: Deadline, Variety