Sony’s Spider-Man Spin-Off ‘Silver & Black’ Scrapped As Studio Preps Solo ‘Black Cat’ Film

The studio hasn’t even released the first film in its proposed Spider-Verse, but yet, Sony is already making big changes to the upcoming film slate. With “Venom” coming in October, Sony has been deep in development on a variety of Spider-Man spin-off films that will share a cinematic universe without the famous wall-crawler.

One of those films was set to be “Silver & Black,” which would have marked the big-screen debuts of heroes Black Cat and Silver Sable. However, that film has been hit with some setbacks, and according to a new report, is likely to be scrapped altogether.

According to Variety, Sony is getting rid of the “Silver & Black” film, which was to be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and instead going to break those two titular characters out into their own films. First on the docket is “Black Cat.” Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, is a cat burglar/femme fatale that is constantly attempting to seduce Spider-Man, while also keeping with her shady, anti-hero, sometimes-criminal ways. Sound familiar? Yes, the character bears a strong resemblance to a certain Batman villain, Catwoman.

READ MORE: Gina Prince-Bythewood Signed On To Direct Comic Book Action Film ‘Old Guard’

“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, president of Columbia Pictures.

Silver Sable, the other half of the “Silver & Black” title, is a mercenary that is often tasked with hunting war criminals. She doesn’t have the same recognizable name to most comic fans as Black Cat, and therefore will probably wait a bit longer before her big-screen debut.

Sony is working hard to develop Spider-Verse films with female leads. In addition to “Black Cat,” the studio is also developing “Silk,” which follows a Korean-American woman with similar powers to Spider-Man and a history with Peter Parker.

“Spider-Man connects to a lot of the characters,” said Panitch. “There are villains, heroes, and antiheroes, and a lot are female characters, many of whom are bona fide, fully dimensionalized, and utterly unique.”

“We feel there’s no reason the Marvel characters shouldn’t be able to embrace diversity,” he continued.

The report continues to say that even though it’s highly unlikely that Prince-Bythewood would return to direct “Black Cat,” the filmmaker will still be on board as an executive producer of both that film and a potential “Silver Sable” spin-off.

No word on a release date, and clearly, Sony is waiting for the success or failure of “Venom” before moving full-steam ahead.