Back in August, Olivia Wilde signed on to direct a female-centered Marvel movie (for Sony) with a hero that’s currently under wraps, but is widely assumed to be Spider-Woman. The move signaled Marvel’s commitment to putting diverse voices both behind and in front of the camera, which began in earnest with Disney’s Black Panther and Captain Marvel. While the details are still scarce on Wilde’s upcoming Marvel project, she recently sat down with the Shut Up Evan podcast to discuss adding a female perspective to the superhero genre.
She also made a notable quip about Marvel mega producer Kevin Feige:
“All I can say is that this is by far the most exciting thing that’s happened to me because not only do I get to tell a story that — listen to me, trying to avoid Kevin Feige’s pellet gun. We are seeing this incredible influx of female directors and storytellers getting to take hold of this genre, this superhero space, and infuse it with their own perspective. Not only do I get to tell the story as a director, but I get to develop the story and that was what made it so incredible for me.”
Wilde also namechecked screenwriter Katie Silberman, who she already worked with on the critically acclaimed Booksmart. She’s thrilled to take their partnership from “a story about female friendship in high school to this other stratosphere,”
Here’s where things get nerdy. While Wilde is technically directing a Marvel movie, she’s actually working in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters. That would be the shared universe of films based on Spider-Man characters like Venom and Morbius, which were previously considered separate from the larger, more well-known Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. However, if Kevin Feige is involved and overseeing Wilde’s project, that would suggest that her film and the upcoming slate of Spider-Man spinoffs could have significant ties to the MCU going forward.
In short, the separate Spider-Man universe might not stay so separate for long.
(Via Shut Up Evan)
