Olivia Wilde will reportedly weave her web into the Spider-Verse! The actress recently signed a deal with Sony Pictures to develop a female-centric Marvel superhero film that will likely feature the character of Spider-Woman.
Details to the arrangement are still hush-hush, but Olivia Wilde is going to direct and co-write the movie with Katie Silberman. Wilde previously worked with Silberman in the coming-of-age film Booksmart (2019). The pair received critical acclaim for this collaboration, especially since it is Wilde’s directorial debut.
Deadline broke the story of Wilde’s deal with Sony Pictures. The actress responded by posting a spider emoji on Twitter with a link to the story.
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) August 19, 2020
Superhero female directors and the Spider-Verse
Olivia Wilde is the newest female director to join Hollywood’s lucrative superhero genre. She’s now in the same ranks as Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman and the sequel), Cate Shortland (Black Widow), Ava DuVernay (New Gods), Chloe Zhao (The Eternals), Cathy Yan (Birds of Prey) and Nia DaCosta (Captain Marvel 2).
In May 2019, Wilde said in an interview with People that mothers, in particular, are “incredible multitasking superheroes.” The actress has two children with husband and actor Jason Sudeikis.
“People have assumed that if you are a mother then you won’t be as reliable as a director, and that is crazy,” the actress said. “I feel honestly that the most qualified people to direct are mothers!”
Wilde’s project is another addition to a growing roster of Spider-Verse movies at Sony. Apart from Tom Holland’s web-slinging franchise, the studio has follow-up movies for Venom, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and the upcoming debut of Morbius.
Spider-Woman plot, characters, and other details
For years, Marvel Comics has come out with several Spider-Woman titles starting with Jessica Drew in the 1970s. Fans believe Wilde’s project will be delving into the origin. But the Spider-Woman character has had a lot of alter egos in succeeding comic book issues, including Mary Jane Watson and the more popular Gwen Stacy.
More recently, viewers saw Spider-Gwen in the animated movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Hailee Steinfeld provided the voice to the character.
In May, female veteran TV director S.J. Clarkson also signed up with Sony for a “secret” Marvel project that superhero genre fans speculated was Spider-Woman. Rumors stated that Clarkson was developing a story based on the Madame Web comic series. It centers on the character of Cassandra Webb, a blind but telepathic and precognitive mutant who appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man comics.
According to Cinema Blend, Olivia Wilde almost passed on this Sony and Marvel deal but she apparently can’t give up the chance to launch another female superhero for the big screen.
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