In a slightly cryptic bit of news, director S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Banshee, Succession) has signed on to direct a female-centric movie for the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters. And, yes, that’s the new official name for Sony’s cinematic universe, but feel free to call it SPUMC, for short.
While details are under wraps, insiders tell Variety that there is a “strong possibility” that the secret Marvel movie is the Madame Web project that was reported in 2019. If that’s the case, it sounds like the project is starting from scratch as there’s no writer attached, and the studio is more concerned with landing an A-list actor first and then developing the film around them.
However, there will be some hurdles given Madame Web is a challenging character to put on screen. She’s an elderly woman strapped to a chair, but that hasn’t stopped Sony from swinging for the fences in trying to entice some pretty big names to the role:
In the comics, Madame Web is depicted as an elderly woman with myasthenia gravis and thus was connected to a life support system that looked like a spider web. Due to her age and medical condition, Madame Web never actively fought any villains. For that reason, sources have stressed it’s possible the project could turn into something else. The studio has a list of possible stars, such as Charlize Theron and Amy Adams, but stress that nobody has committed or even met to for the part yet.
Ever since hashing out a deal with Marvel to continue sharing Tom Holland’s Spider-Man with the MCU, Sony has made aggressive moves to develop its bench of Spider-man related characters that it still holds the rights to. It already made a big splash with Venom and is hoping to build out its cinematic universe with the Jared Leto-starring Morbius followed by a Madame Web movie, which could lay the groundwork for everything from a Sinister Six movie to a live-action Spider-Verse, if not both.
(Via Variety)
