In the realm of Disney, the studio owns all of Marvel and the big screen rights for all of its superhero characters…except one—Spider-Man. The rights to the Wallcrawler sit with Sony. And as a studio hoping to make billions off of the current superhero boom, Sony is maximizing the “Spider-Man” film franchise with a number of various spin-offs, including a film based on two female characters, Black Cat and Silver Sable, aptly titled “Silver & Black.” But that film has lingered in development for years now, and it doesn’t appear that director Gina Prince-Bythewood, who signed on to helm the feature, will ever get it made.
READ MORE: 52 Films Directed By Women To Watch In 2020
However, in a recent interview with THR, celebrating the 20th anniversary of her sports-themed romance, “Love & Basketball,” Prince-Bythewood opened up about the current status of “Silver & Black,” and you may be surprised to find that Sony is exploring all options for the project, including streaming.
“Things are the status quo on my side,” said the filmmaker. “I really love that project, and I do hope it can still happen in some way. It keeps going through different thoughts. First, it was going to be the two of them, and then the decision was made to separate the two. Now, there’s a thought of ‘Hey, maybe we put it on Disney+ as a limited series,’ but I loved it more as a film with the two of them. So, my hope is that one day it can still happen.”
Now, before folks read that and go, “Oh my god, Disney+ is getting the Sony/Spider-Man Universe!” you should probably temper those expectations. Without having any inside knowledge, it would appear on paper that maybe Prince-Bythewood is mistaken with her comments, partially, at least. You see, Sony and Disney have made deals in the past, particularly with how to share the Spider-Man character played by Tom Holland, but they have never had a Sony product debut on a Disney platform. That would take a whole new level of deal.
Adding more skepticism to that idea is the fact that Disney+ has been actively avoiding any sort of licensing agreements with other studios, in favor of having Disney-produced content exclusive for its Disney-branded streaming platform. If anything, perhaps a “Spider-Man” project could find its way on Hulu, which is also owned by the Mouse House. But Disney+? While it makes sense to put Marvel stuff next to other Marvel Stuff, this just doesn’t make financial sense.
That being said, a lot of people would look at the “Spider-Man” deal between Sony and Disney as not making a lot of sense, financially. But yet, that got done. So maybe Prince-Bythewood is onto something. However, just make sure to take that news with a heaping helping of salt.
