A new development in the Silver and Black saga at Marvel.
A report from Variety says the oft-delayed film has been scrapped, in favor of doing two standalone films on the Spider-Man universe characters of Black Cat and Silver Sable.
The first of two films would likely feature Black Cat.
“We believe Black Cat is enough of her own character with a great backstory and a canon of material to draw from to justify her own film,” said Sanford Panitch,the president of Columbia Pictures and the person who oversees what the studio refers to internally as Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC).
In this instance, Gina Prince-Bythewood is not expected to direct either, but instead stay on as a producer for both of the films.
The Variety report states that, “If Prince-Bythewood does leave, Sony is adamant that she will be replaced by another female director. Sony is also eager to work with Prince-Bythewood on other projects.”
Prince-Bythewood has recently been tapped to helm an adaptation of the fantasy comic, The Old Guard.
Debuting in Amazing Spider-Man #194 in 1979, Black Cat is a staple of Spider-Man’s Marvel Universe. Despite her being a thief, she’s maintained a flirty relationship with Spider-Man, and the two even dated periodically although she eventually turned against him and formed a crime ring.
Silver Sable has also existed in Spider-Man’s universe for a long time. She first appeared in “Amazing Spider-Man” #265 in 1985 and worked with the web-slinger on multiple occasions. She is a mercenary who has faced off against Spidey but has also helped him. In addition to being an accomplished martial artist, Sable runs a company that targets war criminals.