Sony pulls Spider-Man spin-off 'Silver & Black' from its release calendar
Sony has decided to pull out its Spiderman spin-off 'Silver & Black' from the calendar, with the film no longer set to be released on February 8, 2019, states Hollywood Reporter.
With only a director, Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights), in place and no casting finalized, the initial release date always looked too ambitious.
The movie will presumably be given a new release date and will quite possibly proceed at a slower pace. For the present, Sony has 'Venom' coming up on October 5 and will be their first film from their very own 'Sony Marvel Universe' which is adjunct to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
'Venom' will share the world of 'Spider-Man: Homecoming,' with 'Silver & Black' looking to continue that trend.
Silver Sable was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz and first appeared in 'The Amazing Spider-Man #265' in June 1985.
A mercenary and hunter of war criminals, she is the leader of the Wild Pack and owner of Silver Sable international who occasionally moonlights as an ally to our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
The Black Cat was created in 1979 by Marv Wolfman as the female foil for Spider-Woman and is based on a Tex Avery cartoon 'Bad Luck Blackie.'
However, she first appeared in 'The Amazing Spider-Man #194' in July 1979 and has since served as the enemy, love interest, and sometimes, an ally of Spider-Man.
The draft for 'Silver & Black' is currently being penned by Lindsey Beer (Godzilla vs Kong) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Tomb Raider), with Prince-Bythewood confirming during a press for Marvel/Freeform series 'Cloak and Dagger' that the team was currently entirely focused on the script.
Besides 'Silver & Black' and 'Venom,' Sony also boasts the rights to other side-characters from Spider-Man in virtue of its deal with Marvel.
A movie based on 'Nightwatch,' whose alter-ego Dr. Kevin Trench first appeared in 'Web of Spider-Man #97' in 1993, is said to be in development as well.
Furthermore, Sony is also said to working on a standalone project for Morbius, the Living Vampire. Created by Roy Thomas and designed by Gil Kane, the erstwhile Dr. Michael Morbius Ph.D., MD, first appeared in 'The Amazing Spider-Man #101' in 1971 as the villain but later goes on to become a tragically flawed anti-hero.
The removal of 'Silver & Black' from the calendar does come as a bit of a surprise, despite its current under-cooked state.
The speculation is that Sony is waiting for the release of 'Venom' and wants to gauge its performance in the box office before going ahead with another multi-million dollar project with little-known superheroes.
The other rumors suggest that it might be the doing of Avi Arad, who was the founder of Marvel Studios and previously served as the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment before resigning in 2006.
Responsible for many of the initial superhero movies such as 'Iron Man' (1994), 'Spider-Man' (1994) and 'The Incredible Hulk' (2006), Arad is known for holding a grudge against his former company.