Peter Parker’s Spider-Man has starred in 10 movies across various franchises and is easily one of the most profitable Marvel superheroes on the big screen. It’s strange, then, that his female counterpart Spider-Woman has yet to make her first live-action appearance. As the Spider-verse continues to thrive in various ways, though, the debut of Jessica Drew can’t be far away.
In fact, We Got This Covered has learned that Marvel has definite plans for Spider-Woman in the MCU, with actresses already being eyed to play the role. Specifically, Shailene Woodley is one of the stars on the studio’s wishlist to portray the heroine in the franchise. Woodley will be a name already familiar to Spidey fans, too, as she was originally cast as Mary Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 before her scenes were cut.
It seems there’s a pattern developing here as well, as our source also informed us that Spider-Woman was supposed to appear in Spider-Man: Far From Home before the character was ultimately removed from the sequel. This makes sense, as rumors have previously pointed to Drew being involved in Peter’s European vacation. It’s unclear if any scenes featuring Jessica were actually filmed, though.
We’ve also been told that Woodley is joined on Marvel’s wishlist for the part by Olivia Cooke, most known for Ready Player One. Cooke’s star is on the rise, too, but Woodley getting the role would be yet another meta casting choice for the MCU Spider-Man franchise. Jake Gyllenhaal, for instance, is Mysterio in Far From Home and once nearly played Spidey himself in 2004.
After being absent on screen for so long, it’s possible that we could end up with both a live-action version of Spider-Woman and an animated one, as Sony’s reportedly developing an Into the Spider-Verse spinoff starring various female Spiders, including Jessica Drew. It’ll be interesting to see which one arrives in theaters first, but either way, it sounds like Spider-Woman is about to get her time to shine.