Following on the heels of news that Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo will be teaming up to deliver Non-Stop Spider-Man, Marvel Comics have now released a trailer for the forthcoming seventh volume of their Spider-Woman series, to be written by Karla Pacheco, who contributed a Night Nurse story to Fearless #2, and illustrated by Pere Pérez, who drew the five-issue Rogue & Gambit miniseries.
Unrelated to her similarly-named wall-crawling counterpart in Queens, the Transian superhero developed her powers after her father, geneticist Jonathan Drew, administered an experimental serum made from a combination of blood samples from various uncommon spider species in an attempt to cure her of Uranium poisoning before sealing her in a genetic accelerator created by his partner, Herbert Wyndham
The trailer, which also features cameos by Deadpool and Captain Marvel, sees a “Jess that’s desperate,” according to editor Jake Thomas. “She’s always sort of been on her own, doing her own thing, but now she’s responsible for” her son Gerald, who was born in the fourth issue of the sixth volume of Spider-Woman in April of 2016.
It also provides a first look at the hero’s new costume, designed by 100 Bullets cover artist Dave Johnson, including a black bodysuit with red webbed soles, fingers and arm trim connecting across the shoulders and front of the neck, a red spider chest insignia, and yellow triangles between the shoulder blades, at the tops of the calves and on the body on the spider, as well as on the forehead of Jessica’s iconic face mask.
Pacheco further teases Drew’s adversary, Octavia Vermis, daughter of former Supreme Leader of Hydra Count Otto Vermis, who was killed by Jessica in his only appearance when she crashed his shuttle in Marvel Spotlight #32, which also marked Drew’s first appearance, under the codename of Arachne. “Jess is interfering with her business,” the writer explains, and “you don’t want to get in the way of Octavia’s business.”
The relaunching of Jessica’s solo title seems fortuitously timed, as rumors have been swirling that Marvel Studios is planning to incorporate Spider-Woman into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, eyeing actresses Emma Roberts, Shailene Woodley, or Olivia Cooke to fill the role, and that the High Evolutionary, the eventual identity of Jonathan Drew’s partner Herbert and the creator of the genetic accelerator that Jessica was confined to, will appear in James Gunn’s upcoming third volume of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Spider-Woman #1 will feature cover art by Jung-Geun Joon and hits the shelves of your local comic shop on March 18th.
