Sony is headed into the great wide open with a female superhero set to debut in 2017. This will be one of their Marvel properties, and after the opening of Guardians Of The Galaxy, there is no better time to wear that Marvel logo. The only problem? Well, can you name any female heroes within the Spider-Man universe? Sony is stretching their rights license pretty far here, particularly considering the bulk of viable, under-exploited characters they do own is primarily male (Morbius comes to mind).
Still, there are characters out there who can fit the bill. Spider-Man is one of the few characters that, in comics and film, has appealed heavily to women. There's a fanbase there. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may not have reached a theatrical profit, but it hit $700 million, reaching a really heavy number of eyeballs. So, who will Sony's next female superhero be? Here are five guesses.
Spider-Woman
Oddly enough, Sony still has the rights to this character even though she really doesn't have much to do with Spider-Man. Jessica Drew is actually a SHIELD agent, one who served as a spy for multiple agencies before later uncovering her true identity. Appropriately enough, the character has undergone several facelifts in the comics, but she's always had those spider-like abilities that fans would instantly recognize. Serving as an Avenger for several years, she's probably the second most-decorated hero character that Sony owns.
Silver Sable
A super power-less mercenary, Silver Sable works independently to track down criminals, many of a superpowered nature. She's older, independently wealthy, and a definite alpha dog who could easily conquer New York City's streets when Spidey isn't looking. She isn't always on the side of the angels, as she's only about the money. There's room for a character like this in the new Spidey universe. Maybe you can get someone like Cameron Diaz, who recently worked with Sony on Bad Teacher and Sex Tape?
Black Cat
We've already seen Felicia Hardy as Black Cat in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. As played by Felicity Jones, she's something of an adviser for Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn. What other secrets could she be hiding? The Black Cat is actually a cat-themed thief, though the guess is they'd have to move away from that characterization lest they suffer comparison's to Catwoman. Sony's been hot on this character for awhile now – a Felicia Hardy was cast, then cut from the original Spider-Man 2, and Anne Hathaway was set to play the character in the aborted Spider-Man 4.
Arachne
Test subject Julia Carpenter ended up with the powers of a spider after an experiment gone wrong, turning her into... well, Spider-Woman. She carried that moniker for years despite Marvel already having another Spider-Woman character, even joining the Avengers and one of its offshoots, Force Works. In recent years, she's both taken on the Arachne name and developed powers of clairvoyance. If there's too much SHIELD red-tape to tell Jessica Drew's story, maybe they can go with Arachne?
Mary Jane Watson
Okay, if you're a studio executive, raise your hand if you'd like to make the next Shailene Woodley movie. Yep, thought so: Divergent was a success and The Fault In Our Stars blew away box office prognostications, and now Ms. Woodley is an A-List leading lady. Shortly before that, however, she signed on to star as Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, unfortunately cut because of story clutter. The studio claimed they could not bring Woodley back due to her Divergent commitments, but now that the overall timetable has been pushed back, why not?
Sony could make a movie about Mary Jane as an average student seeing the calamity and craziness of a newly superpowered New York City while dating a guy like Flash Thompson. Or they could utilize that controversial Jackpot persona, a superheroine that modeled herself after the then-popular Mary Jane Watson, who had become a successful soap star. Before that reveal, however, they had fun implying that Jackpot was none other than Mary Jane herself. In the movies, maybe it could be.
