Despite the devastating blow of Bad Bunny exiting El Muerto to potentially drive a stake through the heart of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, the studio’s third attempt at building a franchise around its most marketable asset continues at pace, even if one project may have been quietly shelved for good.
Back in the heady days when The Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 had release dates while Drew Goddard feverishly worked away on his Sinister Six spin-off, the casting of Felicity Jones as Felicia Hardy in Andrew Garfield’s second solo outing was taken as an indicator that her comic book alter ego Black Cat was set to appear.
In fact, before the franchise imploded entirely, there were insanely ambitious ideas to have an entire MCU-style saga built out from the worst-reviewed and lowest-grossing Spidey solo flick ever made. However, once the rights to the web-slinger shifted over to Marvel Studios, Sony tried again.
In early 2017, it was revealed a Silver & Black movie was in development, with Gina Prince-Blythewood attached to direct. It was delayed, removed from the release schedule, and then canceled in favor of separate solo projects for each of its title characters. As of 2020, though, the entire operation was abandoned in favor of a proposed TV series that’s yet to materialize.
Understandably, then, former writer and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines director Lindsey Anderson Beer admitting to ComicBook that Silver & Black “was something that Sony was looking at and then, as far as I know, is not currently developing” shouldn’t be a shock. Sony’s desperation has seen countless projects fall by the wayside, and you get the sneaking suspicion this won’t even be the last.
