By: Russ Burlingame on August 10, 2012
Earlier today, we brought you the news that it appears as though Kelly DeConnick will be the first female writer ever to take on a monthly Avengers title. This one stars Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man…and Spider-Woman.
The characters are also dressed in their non-relaunch clothes, and there’s no Marvel NOW! logo, leading some to speculate that this is the first new #1 in a while that won’t be branded as Marvel NOW!, or maybe even that it won’t be a relaunch at all, just a new creative team on an existing book.
Most people online seem to think that the teaser poster actually indicates that the title she takes over will be Avengers Assemble, currently written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Mark Bagley. Both Bendis and Bagley have had new Marvel NOW! projects announced, and it’s no secret they were leaving Assemble anyway–but rumors at Bleeding Cool have had Mark Waid taking over that title for a while now.
Here’s the thing about this poster, though; let’s assume for the sake of argument that DeConnick and artist Stefano Caselli will take over Avengers Assemble, which currently stars the same cast as Marvel’s The Avengers, the billion-plus-dollar blockbuster that’s just now starting to peter out of the last of its record-setting theatrical run.
The addition of Spider-Woman begs the question, though: What if we were to see Jessica Drew in Avengers 2? The film, which looks to be headed to theaters on May 1, 2015, will likely see the team facing off against Thanos, and there were rumors recentely that Marvel was interested in reacquiring the rights to Silver Surfer and Galactus, maybe to play a part in an increasingly cosmic Marvel Cinematic Universe…but what’s the rights situation with Spider-Woman? Could she be added to the film?
Certainly we all know that Sony holds the Spider-Man rights, but despite the name similarities and some shared powers, Spider-Woman is a radicalliy different character with little real overlap in the Peter Parker story.
Drew’s character has also been an instrumental part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. in recent years, which makes us wonder: What if she’s intended to be used as a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative in the upcoming Avengers sequel, or even as a central player in the forthcoming Marvel Universe TV series being developed by Joss Whedon, which had been referred to by insiders as a “high-concept police procedural”? She seems an ideal candidate for it.
