Olivia Wilde is officially on deck to direct a future film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Deadline broke the story that Wilde had signed a development deal for an MCU project that focused on an unnamed female character; Wilde subsequently replied to the news on Twitterwith a single spider emoji. That, in turn, has been widely taken as implicit confirmation that, as some rumors had suggested, Wilde’s MCU project will be built around the character Spider-Woman.
Other creators attached to the project include Amy Pascal(Little Women, Spider-Man: Homecoming)as producer and Katie Silberman as screenwriter. Wilde and Silberman previously collaborated on Wilde’s directoral debut in 2019, the critically-laudedcoming-of-age comedyBooksmart; they and Pascal are also working on an untitled holiday comedy for Universal Pictures.
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Wilde’s MCU project makes her the latest female director attached to an upcoming MCU project, joining Anna Boden (Captain Marvel), Cate Shortland (Black Widow), Nia DaCosta (theCaptain Marvelsequel), and Chloé Zhao (Eternals,a.k.a. “Why Kumail Nanjiani Looks So Shredded These Days”). It’s unclear just how Wilde’sSpider-Womanwould fit into the MCU’s Phases, particularly asBlack Widow’s multiple COVID-related delays have dramaticallyslowed down the debutof Phase Four.
The first Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, debuted in 1977’sMarvel Spotlight#32, created by Archie Goodwin and Marie Severin, and was originally conceived to prevent some other comics company from using the “Spider-Woman” name. Jessica originally gains her powers from anexperimental serum, derived from spiders, that her father concocts as a desperate attempt to save her life from an advanced case of radiation poisoning. Jessica survives, and gains powers that include super-strength, wall-climbing, the ability to glide on wind currents, and bio-electric “venom blasts.”
Notably, unlike many other distaff-counterpartheroes like She-Hulkor Supergirl, Jessica’s origin and most of her adventures have absolutely nothing to do with Peter Parker; their names and similar powers are written off in-universe as a total coincidence, and they didn’t meet at all until issue #20 of Jessica’s solo book. For much of her original publication history, Jessica operated in California, rather than in New York like most other Marvel heroes, and worked alongside her friend Lindsay McCabe as a private investigator.Jessica briefly had her own Saturday morning cartoon in 1979, and has appeared in video games such asMarvel: Ultimate AllianceandAvengers Academy.
Several other characters have also used the name Spider-Woman in the comics. Two, Julia Carpenter and Mattie Franklin, adopted the identity during a long period of time in which Jessica had lost most of her powers and given up her superhero career. A third, Gwen Stacy, is from an alternate universe where she gained spider-powers instead of Peter Parker, and especially aftertheInto the Spider-Verseanimated movie, is primarily known to fans as “Spider-Gwen.” Stacy recently adopted the new name of Ghost Spider, in a series by the same name. There’s also yet another Spider-Woman in the Ultimate Marvel continuity, a gender-flipped clone of Peter Parker, who adopts the name “Jessica Drew” as part of an arranged identity.
While it would make sense if Wilde’s film was about Jessica Drew–the character also has extensive ties with both SHIELD and HYDRA in the comics, both of which have played major roles in the MCU to date–the Spider-Woman with the highest profile at the momentis indisputably Gwen Stacy. It’s also significant that Stacy is just about the only major member of Peter Parker’s supporting cast who hasn’t at least made a cameo in the MCUSpider-Manfilms. On the other hand, Sony’s probably not looking to license Gwen back to the MCU anytime soon. Let the rampant speculation begin.
