Sony Launches Female Superhero Movie Mining Spider-Man Universe

[Oscar Rothman]

EXCLUSIVE: Having pushed the next installment of its Spider-Man franchise out of 2016 and into 2018, Sony Pictures is doing a top-to-bottom revamp of its most important property, insiders say. And that includes a female superhero movie which is being eyed for a 2017 release date, Deadline has learned.

Sinister Six, the next installment from writer-director Drew Goddard, was announced in April and its release date revealed during this year’s Comic-Con. It will bow November 11, 2016. The villain bash is the first of several planned character and story expansions for the Spider-Man franchise which the studio is hanging onto by developing other character spinoffs — much like Fox has done with its successful X-Men franchise. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing Sinister Six, which revolves around all the villains of Spider-Man converging after the evil Dr. Octopus summons them. 2220211-asm_endsoftheearth1piconThere are a lot of different Sinister Six team-ups so it has yet to be revealed which characters might appear, but one possibility is Vulture, Mysterio, Electro, Kraven the Hunter and Sandman. And Goddard is said to be a supreme comic book geek — not that there’s anything wrong with that — who truly understands all the aspects of the Spider-Man universe and its characters and storylines which is key for that movie and the next. “Having Goddard on board places the movie in the hands of someone who has lived in this world,” said one person who knowledge of the property. “If you look at Cabin In The Woods, he did such a phenomenal job on that in redefining and commenting on the genre while also completely embracing it. He’s a fanboy which compliments his talents as a filmmaker.”

Black_cat_small_FotorStunnerAfter the villains emerge, get ready for the power of the women from the Spider-Man universe. Which characters they will develop is up for speculation, but we know that Lisa Joy Nolan (Westworld) has been hired to script and that again Arad and Tolmach are producing. There are several strong possibilities — Silver Sable, Black Cat, Stunner, Firestarter and Spider-Woman, to name a few.

The moves come only two weeks after Marvel Comics announced a gender change for its Thor character during The View — a change in the comic book world that sparked heated debate among fans. Also last month, filmmaker Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. unveiled the first images of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in the summer 2016 release of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

It was only a matter of time that someone would announce a female superhero movie — and it happens to be Sony who is the first out of the gate. So who are these superhero women possibles? I’m no comic book geek so I’ll do the best I can.

Doctor_Octopus_thumb_FotorSpider-Woman is known in the comics as Charlotte Witter, a fashion designer who is genetically altered by Dr. Octopus. Silver Sable has virtually no superhuman powers but is an adept fighter, skilled in martial arts and sword play who wears a lot of techno gizmo weaponry. Black Cat was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as Felicia, Harry Osborn’s assistant, and was played by Felicity Jones; she is also a trained fighter and acrobat. Stunner was a video store clerk who ended up getting a makeover by Dr. Octopus to make her a powerful evil.

This is a wise move for Sony because it’s capitalizing not only on the audience’s changing appetite, but also the studio is digging into its powerful asset base and mining other characters — thereby extending the asset and keeping the rights.

“What other movies we could do was something everyone started talking about when shooting the last movie,” said one person with knowledge of the plans. “With Salt, Wanted and Lucy, there is a huge appetite for this right now.” As for the Spider-Man movie itself, “The one thing you can’t ignore is the fans. There was a rejection going on with having another Spider-Man come out so soon, and you have to listen to the fans in this world. We all took a good look in the mirror and said, we have to try to have to figure it out and revamp it.”

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