Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse made huge waves in the animation community as the Sony Animation Studios project was not only different stylistically, but also a huge departure from other Spider-Man projects they’ve tackled in the past and earned them an Oscar for Best Animated Feature back in 2019.
Of course, a direct sequel and spinoffs have been subsequently announced and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2 is already being worked on. The follow-up film even has a script co-written by Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings screenwriter Dave Callaham.
One casting addition that was announced earlier today by The Hollywood Reporter is that comedic actress Issa Rae (Lovebirds) will voice the role of Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman in the sequel.
It’s expected that Oscar Isaac will reprise the role of Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Verse 2 after being teased at the end of the first film with technology that allows him to move between the Spider-Verse.
The Marvel Comics heroine has been the incarnation of of the superhero that everyone has assumed will be the lead in Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman film for Sony Pictures, but hasn’t been announced officially by the studio. Unlike other Sony characters, Jessica Drew didn’t first appear in the pages of Spider-Man comic books as she started as a Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. villain brainwashed by HYDRA, making her a shared character with Marvel Studios.
Jessica Drew has ties to the big Skrull event Secret Invasion that will be covered in a Disney+ series and was an agent of S.W.O.R.D., making her a strong contender to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon. It remains to be seen who will play the live-action incarnation of Jessica Drew and if Marvel Studios will even be involved with the Olivia Wilde project. While Oscar Isaac voices Spider-Man 2099 and Hailee Steinfeld voices Spider-Gwen they have their own hard-canon roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Moon Knight’s Marc Spector and Hawkeye’s Kate Bishop, respectively.
There is also a an all-female Spider-Verse spinoff project in the works that will likely have Rae’s Jessica Drew on the roster too.
The animation and live-action Spider-Man universes haven’t been directly tied to each other, yet.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2 will release on October 7, 2022.
Bitten by a radioactive spider in the subway, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales suddenly develops mysterious powers that transform him into the one and only Spider-Man. When he meets Peter Parker, he soon realizes that there are many others who share his special, high-flying talents. Miles must now use his newfound skills to battle the evil Kingpin, a hulking madman who can open portals to other universes and pull different versions of Spider-Man into our world.
Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige remarked a while back that their event series Secret Invasion would have more characters than Avengers: Endgame, which is an extremely bold claim to make even for the Marvel spokesperson. While we’re still waiting for confirmation on what Avengers or new heroes will be appearing in Secret Invasion, we got two high-profile additions to the cast this week.
Oscar-winner Olivia Colman (The Crown, Hot Fuzz, The Father, The Favorite, Peep Show) and four-time Emmy nominee Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Terminator Genisys) are more or less names you’d expect to be cast for a Marvel Studios feature film, not a Disney+ show. This could suggest that the roles may end up having a larger impact on the MCU and could carrying over to the films as well.
The stand-out here is obviously Emilia Clarke as she had been tapped for an unnamed role in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 possibly when the script had a main female villain. Screenwriter Drew Pearce confirmed that Clarke had a major role in the film before there were script changes which director Shane Black further explained to Uproxx back in 2016 that is was Marvel corporate that squashed (by the remarks sounds like Ike Perlmutter) their attempt to have a female villain in Iron Man 3. The role according to Black was essentially going to be a female version of Guy Pearce’s Killian.
BLACK: “All I’ll say is this, on the record: There was an early draft of Iron Man 3 where we had an inkling of a problem. Which is that we had a female character who was the villain in the draft. We had finished the script and we were given a no-holds-barred memo saying that cannot stand and we’ve changed our minds because, after consulting, we’ve decided that toy won’t sell as well if it’s a female.”
“In the earlier draft, the woman was essentially Killian – and they didn’t want a female Killian, they wanted a male Killian. I liked the idea, like Remington Steele, you think it’s the man but at the end, the woman has been running the whole show.”
Connecting the two bits of information, Clarke was likely being tapped to play this female main villain before the changes were made. This alteration to the script was potentially why the villain hierarchy was a huge mess in Iron Man 3 and why a lot of people weren’t thrilled about the Killian/Mandarin twists, because it sounds like they were mandated changes from outside of the studio.
That wasn’t her only brush with an MCU casting as Emilia was a hopeful in 2012 to play the Sharon Carter role in the Russo Brothers’ Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The part eventually went to Emily VanCamp, who at the time was best known for her ABC series Revenge and wasn’t on many people’s radar at the time. Carter sadly didn’t have a massive impact in Captain America: Civil War and the character is only now getting some neat stuff to do in The Falcon & The Winter Soldier.
So, Marvel has been trying to find her a role for ages and unlikely would be courted to play some one-off if she had been eyed for both villain and heroic roles in the past.
Secret Invasion is going to likely feature multitude of film characters as there could be a direct tie-in with Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel 2 given their production (both shooting in the United Kingdom) and release proximity. It’s already been confirmed that Captain Marvel 2 will feature Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Iman Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel, and Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau. We still don’t know who Zawe Ashton is playing the sequel outside of a villain and if she is a Skrull.
There is a small chance that Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther 2 could have connections to Secret Invasion given that Skrulls have attempted to invade Wakanda only to have their asses handed to them and would likely need to infiltrate them given their advanced technology/access to vibranium. Skrulls kidnapping T’Challa could be a good excuse for Marvel to have another character in the Black Panther mantle without the need to recast or use a CGI double in the sequel.
Once S.W.O.R.D. was introduced in WandaVision it opened the door for a wave of characters connected to the cosmic agency and it’s expected to play a large role in both Captain Marvel 2 and Secret Invasion. The two big female S.W.O.R.D. agents that could be perfect for Clarke are Abigail Brand (a mutant) and Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman.
Having Abigail Brand in Secret Invasion could be the first move by Marvel Studios to slowly introduce mutants and X-Men into the MCU, as their X-Men reboot is still in early stages and despite continued rumblings of a Wolverine series they really haven’t announced anything official concerning mutants.
While the name Spider-Woman is owned by Sony, Jessica Drew debuted outside of the Spider-Man comic books making her fair game to be used by Marvel Studios. Sony Pictures is reportedly making a Spider-Woman movie with director Olivia Wilde (Booksmart, Don’t Worry Darling), however, it hasn’t been confirmed if Jessica Drew will lead that project or if Marvel Studios will produce it like they have with Jon Watts’ Spider-Man trilogy.
While the MCU’s version of Secret Invasion is going to have to be different from the comics to make it less predictable, Jessica Drew is revealed to be Skrull Queen Veranke. An interesting way to go could be that Clarke plays Brand or Drew with Olivia Colman playing real version of Queen Veranke in make-up. It’s still unclear if they’ll be friends or foes in the Disney+ show as Kingsley Ben-Adir is the only cast member specifically mentioned as playing a villain.
Secret Invasion will begin shooting this fall in the United Kingdom and assumed to debut on Disney+ in late 2022.
A while back it was revealed that director Olivia Wilde was hired by Sony Pictures to develop a new Marvel film, which was reportedly going to be a Spider-Woman film. This could mean that Marvel and Sony could be working together again as the main version of the character is a S.W.O.R.D. Agent and originates outside of the Spider-Man comics, clearly allowed to be used by Marvel.
We still haven’t got clarity officially from Sony if it will indeed be Spider-Woman or if Marvel will be involved like with their Spider-Man movies. If they were working on it this would mean it would be automatically part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe while stuff like Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Kraven The Hunter are seemingly in Sony’s own spinoff universe. Morbius’ trailer hinting a direct connection with Spider-Man: Homecoming as it featured Michael Keaton’s Vulture.
There has been a growing call to have Star Wars alumni Daisy Ridley in the role of Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman. Her co-star Oscar Isaac recently joined the MCU nabbing the Marc Spector role for the upcoming Disney+ series Moon Knight.
Sariah Wilson has now spoke with Ridley and dished about that conversations on Twitter when the subject of the fancasting for Marvel heroine Spider-Woman came-up. She didn’t seem to know about it but seemed game while curious if it was part of the MCU or some off-shoot.
What so many of you have been waiting for: I asked Daisy Ridley I'd she'd heard the Spider-Woman rumors. She said no and asked what they were. I explained it to her and she said, "OMG, I would love to play Spider-Woman. But is it more of like an extended Spiderverse thing?"
This is hardly evidence that any real talks have actually happened or are currently taking place, but Wilson seemed to finally put Spider-Woman on Daisy’s radar after outcry from her fans to take the superhero role.
I’m still waiting on Sony Pictures to release more details on the Olivia Wilde film.
We knew that a Nick Fury series was on the way from Marvel Studios and it was confirmed during the Disney Investor Day event as Secret Invasion starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn returning as Skrull leader Talos.
The Secret Invasion is a story in Marvel Comics that reveals various characters had replaced with the alien baddies Skrulls leading to a huge clash between superpowered Skrulls mimicking the powers of many Marvel heroes and villains. This element had been directly connected to the Fantastic Four rights via the Super-Skrull, but with those rights finally returning to Marvel it allows them to use those other Skrull abilities beyond shapeshifting.
In the comics, it’s a massive event on the level of Avengers: Endgame but the series seemingly won’t be on that scale according to Kevin Feige while speaking with Comic Book to promote WandaVision‘s debut on Disney+ later this month. Revealing that fans shouldn’t expect the volume of characters in the show as the comic since they’ll be focusing on Sam and Ben’s characters.
FEIGE: “Well, there were more characters in the Secret Invasion comic series than there were in Endgame so, no. It’s not that but it very much is a showcase for Sam Jackson and Ben Mendelson and tapping into the paranoia elements of the Secret Invasion comic series that was great with the twists and turns that that took. So, that’s certainly our focus more than, ‘Can we cram in more characters than Endgame? like publishing?'”
Expectations certainly need to be tempered a bit considering that the Marvel series will have more limitations with more targeted casting than the films because the time commitment to a series is likely a lot more of an ask than with a feature film with a runtime of two-plus hours.
S.W.O.R.D. is all but assumed to be involved in the series and will be introduced in WandaVision.
The series is expected to shoot around the same time as Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel 2 in the United Kingdom, so there is a good shot that there could be some crossover with those characters rather than others that might be harder to connect. We’ll be excited to hear if the project will indeed have a direct crossover with Olivia Wilde‘s Spider-Woman film given that Jessica Drew has a role to play in Secret Invasion.
Stay tuned for more information on the Skrull event in the coming months.
Spider-Man 3 will officially see it’s score composed by Michael Giacchino!
The composer announced his return on his Twitter account yesterday and used the first official set photo that had been previously shared by franchise star Tom Holland. Michael will now secure scoring an entire Spider-Man trilogy.
We are hearing that there is an expectation that Giacchino will be back for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness after tackling the first film’s score. Both films are currently in production with Spider-Man 3 shooting in Atlanta under the working title The November Project and Doctor Strange 2 filming at Longcross Studios in Surrey, England.
Jon Watts is directing a cast that includes Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jamie Foxx, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Tony Revolori, Angourie Rice, Jon Favreau, and J.K. Simmons.
There have been rumblings that we could learn the film’s title in the coming weeks/months. We do know the film is will follow the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home where Peter Parker is outed publicly by J. Jonah Jameson as Spider-Man along with being framed for the murder of Quentin Beck aka Mysterio. The extent of those consequences or Parker going on the run or being captured are currently a mystery.
Questions remain about the inclusion of Jamie Foxx’s Electro and if this will become an MCU incarnation of the Spidey villain rather than a resurrection of the same character from Amazing Spider-Man 2 via The Multiverse. J.K. Simmons’ reprisal of J. Jonah Jameson is clearly a new soft-reboot of the character for the franchise and is expected to cross into the other Sony/Marvel films like Morbius. The Jared Leto film has already had it’s connection to Spider-Man: Homecoming outed with it’s trailer including Michael Keaton’s Vulture.
The deal between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures expires after one more Marvel film that most likely will be the Doctor Strange sequel given that Benedict is confirmed to appear in Spider-Man and could easily lead to Peter Parker showing up in Doctor Strange’s “solo” film as these installments are quickly become quasi Avengers movies because of the team-up nature of them.
I have to assume that Disney and Sony will eventually come back to the negotiating table to work together on more movies as it is an increasingly beneficial situation for both companies.
Olivia Wilde is reportedly directing a Spider-Woman film but it remains to be seen if Kevin Feige/Marvel Studios will be involved with that project. It’s been assumed they will be, as Marvel has access to Jessica Drew the alter ego that is traditionally known as Spider-Woman. The heroine debuting outside the Spider-Man comics and happens to be an agent of S.W.O.R.D. that is firmly set within the MCU via WandaVision along with other upcoming projects.
Sony Pictures has given Spider-Man 3 a release date of December 17th, 2021.
There has been an assumption since it was reported that Booksmart director Olivia Wilde was hired for an unnamed Marvel film for Sony Pictures, rumored to be Spider-Woman, that Marvel Studios would be involved as a co-producer. Potentially making the film for Sony like they are with the three Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland.
While reaffirming she landed the gig during a chat with the podcast Shut Up Evan hosted by Evan Ross Katz (via Entertainment Weekly), Wilde invoked the name of Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige but stopped short from saying Marvel Studios are directly involved with the project or even confirming its indeed Spider-Woman.
WILDE: “God, listen to me trying to avoid Kevin Feige’s pellet gun.”
Olivia went on to talk about more women being able to bring their own perspectives to the superhero film genre which is has been dominated by male directors/writers.
WILDE: “Look, we are seeing this incredible influx of female directors and storytellers getting to take hold of this genre, of the superhero space, and infuse it with their own perspective. So, not only do I get to tell this story as a director, but I get to develop this story, and that was what made it so incredible for me.”
“I’m just honored to be amongst this wave of women who are showing up and saying ‘we are not only going to step in and try and tell this story like men do, we’re actually going to reframe the stories themselves. And the industry is, as far as I can tell, really supportive of that. There is a sea change and it’s because of these decades of trailblazers who demanded this over and over and over again and it’s finally broken through and I’m very fortunate to be there with it.”
I’m not entirely convinced just yet that is will be another Sony/Marvel co-production as they haven’t come out and made this official. I don’t really understand why they would hide this information after the report of Wilde was directing the film and her confirmation, unless they’re waiting for some event to make the big announcement.
Then again, Jessica Drew the traditional version of Spider-Woman, is a product of HYDRA brainwashing (not unlike The Winter Soldier) with a connection to Captain America villain Ophelia Sarkissian aka Viper (also known as Madame Hydra), who pretended to be Jessica’s birth mother. Jessica also became an Agent of S.W.O.R.D., the cosmic counterpart of S.H.I.E.L.D. that will be introduced in WandaVision and is expected to have a larger role in Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel 2.
Drew did not debut in the pages of Spider-Man comic books and means that Marvel Studios has direct access to her.
Even with movies like Venom, Morbius, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Kraven The Hunter you’ll see them interact directly with Marvel Entertainment (still under Kevin Feige’s purview), their liaison branch, does work alongside filmmakers and studio producers at Sony Pictures to make sure the characters are being properly represented to the public.
She may have genuinely spoken with Kevin Feige but it remains to be seen if this was via Marvel Entertainment or Marvel Studios, I’ll be hoping for the latter alongside everyone else.
Olivia Wilde is currently busy directing the New Line Cinema thriller Don’t Worry Darling starring Florence Pugh, Dakota Johnson, Chris Pine, and Harry Styles, which takes in a California desert community during the 1950s.
Hours ago, Deadline first reported that Booksmart‘s Olivia Wilde would be directing and co-writing a new Spider-Man spinoff film at Sony Pictures. They claimed that sources believe it would focus on Spider-Woman best known as Jessica Drew.
Olivia Wilde has now confirmed this news on Twitter and added a spider emoji, suggesting that the Spider-Woman tidbit was indeed accurate.
Adding to the Spider-Woman thing is that Wilde didn’t correct actor Josh Gad when he brought-up the involvement of Marvel Studios and suddenly after the news Marvel dropped a piece to help inform people about Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman, the timing doesn’t seem to be an accident. The expectation here is that this could be another co-production between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, leading the latter being behind the production like with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man trilogy.
It’s the least I could do in exchange for the gift of Olaf 🙏
Unlike with other Spider-Man characters that are getting spinoffs at Sony, Jessica Drew debuted in the pages of Marvel Spotlight #32 and 50 issues of her own solo series meaning she is fair game for Marvel Studios to use and is why there had been plenty of expectations of a co-production between Sony and Marvel.
Jessica Drew connects to multiple characters outside of Spider-Man as she was an Agent of S.W.O.R.D., the cosmic version of S.H.I.E.L.D. that will be introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe via WandaVision and Captain Marvel character Monica Rambeau.
Drew has origins with HYDRA brainwashing her to become Arachne and Ophelia Sarkissian aka Viper (Madame Hydra) pretended to be her birth mother.
There is an expectation that S.W.O.R.D. will have a sizable role in Nia DaCosta’s Captain Marvel 2, where we could first see Jessica if she is indeed being planned on being inserted into the MCU in a similar way to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man was in Captain America: Civil War.
S.W.O.R.D. could also be carrying over to something like Ms. Marvel as well.
Then again, Spider-Woman would more likely be an origin film given how different it is compared to the various other “Spider-People” connected to Peter Parker.
When this project will begin shooting is a little unknown as Wilde is about to begin shooting her thriller Don’t Worry Darling this fall.
Deadline has breaking Marvel movie news as Olivia Wilde (Booksmart) has been hired by Sony Pictures to direct a new Spider-Man spinoff film which they claim will be Spider-Woman. Wilde will also co-write with partner Katie Silberman, a previous script was penned by Gary Spinelli (American Made, Chaos Walking).
Amy Pascal, who is the main producing force of the Spider-Man franchise at Sony is producing the project as well.
The original version of Spider-Woman is Jessica Drew, a character that is most likely shared by both Sony and Marvel Studios. However, Marvel isn’t mentioned in this write up which could suggest they might not be involved in whatever incarnation they’re attempting despite previous rumblings that Marvel/Sony would talking about coming together for a co-production.
There is a chance this could be a Spider-Gwen project given the character’s popularity in the wake of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse‘s Oscar win and reportedly getting her own spinoff animated film featuring other female characters.
Other female Marvel projects in development at Sony include Black Cat, Silver Sable, Jackpot, and a Madame Webb film from director S.J. Clarkson.
I guess we’ll have to wait for some official announcement from the studio.
Olivia is currently busy with her thriller Don’t Worry Darling shooting this fall with a cast that consists of Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson. This would suggest this Marvel film won’t begin filming anytime soon.
THE RONIN 