What Does The Sony And Marvel Deal Mean For Spider-Woman?

Recently, Sony and Marvel sent shock waves through fandom by announcing that they had reached an agreement though which Spider-Man could appear in Marvel Studios films, and characters from Marvel Studios films could make appearances in Spider-Man movies.

Since then, much has been discussed about how this deal might manifest. Where will Spider-Man first show up? What does it mean for the Spider-Man spinoff projects Sony was supposedly working on? Who will they get to replace Andrew Garfield?

But there's one character who has been lost in the shuffle, as she more or less has been throughout the superhero movie boom, and that's Jessica Drew, a.k.a. Spider-Woman. Spider-Woman actually has very little connection to her male counterpart (unlike the Ultimate Marvel version, which is Peter Parker's clone), but her name alone made her movie rights situation unclear for fans.

The details of Marvel's licensing deal with Sony and Fox remain mostly under wraps, though some points have become clear. If you're a mutant, you belong at Fox, but otherwise it seems that a character is included with the film rights to whatever group of comics they most often appear in. Quicksilver is both a mutant, and most often associated with the Avengers line of comics, which is why he ended up appearing in both X-Men: Days of Future Past and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Spider-Woman is an Avenger and has worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the past. As such, it seems most likely that her rights remained with Marvel Studios, unless Sony had a clause that granted them the film rights to any character with the word "spider" in their name.

Regardless of what it may have been, the new deal between the studios may have opened up some opportunities for her to appear in either studio's films. Sony was rumored to be working on a female Spider-Man team spinoff movie prior to the deal, though Spider-Woman was not on the list of characters they were looking at using most closely. If they were overlooking Jessica previously, then perhaps the deal with Marvel will allow her to be included. Then again, the Sony hacks also reportedly revealed that Marvel hated Sony's spinoff ideas, so maybe not.

On the other hand, if Sony had the rights to Spider-Woman, the deal may open her up to appear as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., or in some other capacity. Whether that means an introduction via Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show, on in a film – perhaps Captain America: Civil War – we couldn't say, but her comic book history as a double, if not triple agent makes her a perfect fit for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s spy games.

Then again, maybe she's actually already been cast. Carrie-Anne Moss was recently added to the cast of A.K.A. Jessica Jones, as a "no-nonsense" woman who could be a powerful ally to Jessica. Moss certainly looks the part of Jessica Drew, and any of her S.H.I.E.L.D. connections, superpowers, or life experience could be valuable to an ex-superhero private investigator like Jessica. It's speculative, sure, but certainly seems possible.

There's no way to know for sure until Marvel and/or Sony give us something to work with. Until then, just look forward to the next Spider-Man movie, which is expected to open in 2017.