Spider-Gwen Live-Action Blockbuster In The Works?
For better or for worse, Sony continues trying to create successful movies based on heroes and villains associated with Spider-Man. While this has resulted in two commercially successful Venom films, it has also led to downright embarrassing films such as Morbius and Madame Web. Now, there’s a rumor that Sony is working on a live-action Spider-Gwen movie, and its success or failure could determine the future of the studio’s frequent attempts to create its own Marvel franchise.
No Specific Details Available Yet
Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the way of specific details for this rumor. All we know is that @MyTimeToShineH, an X/Twitter user with a history of Hollywood scoops, claims that Sony is in the early stages of developing a Spider-Gwen movie. Details like who will star in the film and what the story will be are currently unknown.
Can’t Be Any Worse Than Madame Web
Sony creating a Spider-Gwen movie is a no-brainer for a studio that remains dead set on creating its own cinematic universe centered around Spider-Man characters other than the Web-Head. Aside from the general problems with the writing, acting, and directing, one of the reasons that Morbius and Madame Web failed is that general audiences have no idea who these characters are.
Releasing these movies was something of a Catch-22 situation for Sony because only old-school comic nerds know anything about these characters, and that’s the exact audience waiting to pounce when the movies inevitably veer away from established comic lore.
One Of The Best Parts Of The Spider-Verse
Conversely, Spider-Gwen makes a great choice for a solo movie because she has become the breakout star of the Spider-Verse.
The charming performance of Hailee Steinfeld in those animated films helped general audiences see Gwen a bit like Miles Morales does: as the cute superhero next door…or at least, next dimension. Those films also did a great job of adapting her comic character so that (unlike most of the alternate Spider-people glimpsed in these movies), she came across as a more fully-developed character of her very own.
Potential Spider-Man Cameo
Depending on how Sony makes a live-action Spider-Gwen movie, it could be fairly easy to build Gwen’s relationship with Spider-Man into the film in a satisfying way. One of the biggest problems with ostensible spinoff franchises like Venom is that the studio has to build an entire arc around a Spider-Man villain without actually involving Spider-Man himself.
If Gwen’s onscreen adventure takes place in her separate dimension, then it would make sense for Spider-Man to be absent, though she could possibly have an interdimensional phone call with Miles Morales (likely easier to include than a Tom Holland Peter Parker cameo per Sony’s agreement with Disney).
Sony Needs Another Spider-Man Related Hit
Ultimately, how optimistic you are about the idea of a live-action Spider-Gwen movie is a reflection of just how badly you feel burned by Sony’s history of awful Spidey spinoffs. Gwen is one of Marvel’s best and most original characters in recent years, and there is no question that she is due a blockbuster film of her very own.
Whether Sony, a studio that turned Morbius into a box office bomb not once but twice, is the best company to bring Gwen’s story to life, however, is another question entirely.
