‘Silver and Black’ Scrapped as Sony Plans ‘Silver Sable’, ‘Black Cat’, and More ‘Spider-Man’ Standalones
After removing the Spider-Man-free Spider-Man spin-off Silver and Black from their release schedule, Sony has made the unsurprising move to cancel the film. In its place, Sony will develop two new projects starring the intended leads of that project: Silver Sable and Black Cat. In addition, more movies starring characters like Silk, Jackpot, and Nightwatch are planned.
Variety has done an extensive report on what’s internally being dubbed as “Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters”, or the SUMC. The setting will be launched by October’s Venom, starring Tom Hardy. In the article, the long-gestating Silver and Black project notes that Sony has the license to 900 Marvel characters as the holders of the movie rights to the Spider-Man franchise. The company clearly plans on making the most of them, both in the MCU movies that Marvel Studios produce and the ones that Sony are developing in-house. But in the process of developing more Spider-Man movies without the lead character himself, one of the spin-offs that they planned to release shortly after Venom has been put on the chopping block.
Silver and Black, which was intended to star expert mercenary Silver Sablinova (AKA Silver Sable) and extraordinary cat burglar Felicia Hardy (AKA Black Cat) in an adventure that would set them against each other before having them join forces, has officially been cancelled. (It should be noted that the two characters did not interact with each other particularly frequently in the comics, meaning the movie they would have made would largely have been an original story.) As with Venom, Spider-Man would not be involved with this story at all, but there would be room for him to appear later down the line (whether he’s portrayed by Tom Holland to capitalize on the MCU’s success – even though this setting is not part of the MCU – or a different actor who would serve as a supporting character that ties the setting together).
Gina Prince-Bythewood, who was expected to direct the crossover, will have to opt out now that the movie has been axed, although she is expected to produce both Silver Sable and Black Cat, and the studio are open to hiring her to direct another project. Sony is generally interested in hiring women directors for woman-focused superhero projects in this planned shared universe, including Jackpot (a woman resembling Mary Jane Watson who has super-strength, invulnerability, and superhuman stamina) and Silk (a Korean-American woman who gained Spider-Man’s powers from the same spider that bit Peter Parker, with all of his powers and none of the means to fully control them). The last projects of note are Nightwatch (an African-American scientist who uses a costume that enhances his abilities and allows him to glide), to be directed by Spike Lee, and Morbius the Living Vampire, which will star Jared Leto as the titular scientist who gains vampiric abilities after experimenting upon himself.
Sony is currently developing multiple Spider-Man spin-offs set outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Morbius the Living Vampire, Kraven the Hunter, Silver Sable, Black Cat, Silk, Jackpot, and Nightwatch. Some projects that were developed but were ultimately scrapped include Silver and Black and Mysterio. Venom, the first movie in this setting, will be released on October 5, 2018.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
