Olivia Wilde sent ripples through the Spider-verse yesterday
with this not-so-subtle tweet, coming on the heels of the announcement that she
would be directing a female-centered Marvel movie.
But what does it mean?
Sony has been working on developing female-led Marvel movies directed by women and recently tapped director S.J. Clarkson, whose past credits
include episodes of “Jessica Jones” and “The Defenders” for Netflix, to direct “Madame Web.”
Black Cat and Silver Sable, also Marvel female characters, are
also set for the cinematic treatment, with "The Old Guard" director Gina Prince-Bythewood set to take the helm.
Wilde, who directed last year’s beloved smart-girls-gone-wild comedy, “Booksmart,” was also recruited by Sony to direct this new film.
While there has been no official word, the rumor mill was instantly abuzz that the
film was the long-awaited live action “Spider-Woman.”
When Wilde posted her
cryptic tweet of nothing but a spider emoji in response to the Deadline article,
she basically confirmed the rumor. She went silent after that, refusing to
answer any more questions.
Nothing more is known about a potential
“Spider-Woman” film, but it could focus on any one of a number of characters
who have become Spider-Woman through the years, including Peter Parker paramours
Gwen Stacey, Mary Jane Watson and Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman from
the 1970s Stan Lee comic book series.
With the introduction of the concept of multiple
alternate Spider-Man universes (as seen in 2018’s animated “Into the
Spider-Verse”), the character could literally be anyone. It is not yet known if
the continuity would line up with Sony’s other Spider-Man franchise, starring
Tom Holland, which is currently aligned with Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe
(the Spider-Man character is basically on loan to the MCU as part of a Sony and Disney deal). But with Marvel director
Kevin Feige teasing a Venom/Spider-Man crossover at some point, it seems like only
a matter of time until more Spider-verse characters start converging on film.
Will Madame Webb and Spider-Woman join the party for a larger multi-picture Spider-verse
dynasty?
Wilde, an actor turned director, also showed her love for
another recently-announced female director to the MCU: Nia DaCosta, who was named as the director of "Captain Marvel 2" after the positive buzz from the highly-anticipated horror flick reboot “Candyman,” set to open this October.
Meanwhile, Twitter flipped
out over the Wilde news, including celeb friends like screenwriter Emily V
Gordon and actor Natasha Lyonne.
Rightly, fans also lost their minds, as
there hasn’t ever been a film adaptation of the beloved character (and the last
time Spider-Woman appeared on a TV show was a cartoon series in 1979). Only Elastigirl
can properly convey the enthusiasm:
We've been waiting, after all.
Women celebrating women -- we
love to see it.
As Molly and Amy asked in “Booksmart,”
“Who allowed you to be this beautiful?”