Those looking forward to Sony's SILVER & BLACK might find their anticipation for Marvel's female-led Spider-Man spinoff feeling a little black and blue, as Exhibitor Relations has stated that the film has been pulled from the studio's release schedule. The report comes just days after the long-gestating project's director, Gina Prince-Bythewood said that her team was in the midst of "pounding out the script."
Previously dated for a February 8, 2019 release, SILVER & BLACK was to feature two of Marvel's most ferocious members of the Spider-Man universe, Silver Sable and Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat. As a mercenary, Silver Sablinova hunts war criminals as the leader of the Wild Pack. She's also CEO of Silver Sable International, a corporation that deals in contracted kills within the Marvel Universe. Black Cat is one of Spider-Man's many foes, though the two have been romantically involved for at least a few of Felicia's nine lives. The two aren't always at odds, though. In fact, Spidey and Cat have joined forces on a number of occassions, usually with Hardy having an alterior motive for playing nice.
As of now, Sony has set the film as "in development" as opposed to pushing the feature back a year or two. As much as it pains me to say it, we we may have just witnessed the death blow for this project. Which is a real shame when you consider the talent involved, thus far – not to mention how many fans were looking forward to seeing the characters make their big screen debut.
Is it possible that Sony is going back to the drawing board with SILVER & BLACK? Absolutely. Or, has the early negative buzz circling Ruben Fleischer's VENOM trailer spooked the studio into another plan? Could it be that Sony will now be leaning hard into Morbius: The Living Vampire instead? We're going to need a lot more details before we know the deal, though it would seem that anything can happen given the current temperature of Sony's Spiderverse initiative.
It's also worth mentioning that even though Sony still owns the character of Spider-Man, they aren't permitted to use the character in the Spiderverse films, as it would violate their deal with Marvel Studios. Is it possible that Sony is thinking of releasing VENOM as a one-off, then cutting their loses? Does the Spiderverse plan even work without the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler there to, like a great carpet, tie the room together? Stay tuned to find out.
Sony's GREYHOUND WWII drama starring Tom Hanks will now occupy SILVER & BLACK's February 8, 2019 slot.