Silver & Black Director Says Sony Is Still Undecided About Including Spider-Man in Spinoff Movies

Netflix is ready to premiere Charlize Theron's latest ass-kicking adventure with The Old Guard set to hit the streaming service, but director Gina Prince-Bythewood might be looking back to the Spider-Man universe for a project that's been stuck in development hell. The filmmaker was set to tackle Silver & Black for Sony Pictures, meant to serve as the big screen debuts of Silver Sable and Felicia Hardy's thieving alter ego Black Cat. But apparently Sony executives have questions over certain spinoffs being able to be released without any involvement from Spidey himself.

When Total Film asked Prince-Bythewood about the status of Silver & Black, the filmmaker couldn't offer a major status update but did provide some insight on Sony's issues with how they're approaching Spider-Man spinoffs.

"My honest answer is I don't know. I really love those characters, I loved having them together. I thought, what we came up with was a really good, really organic way to have the two together. That world is changing so much because of the success of the Spider-Man films," the director explained. "There's a question of, 'Can you really have these films with Spider-Man not in them? Should he at least have some sort of part in them?' That's always the question. I've taken two years off of that for [The Old Guard] so once this gets out into the world, I hope it's a success, and then I'll certainly go back and start talking with them again."

Details of the film were reportedly revealed over the last year, including the possibility of a cameo from Norman Osborn AKA the Green Goblin. While the project has not yet come together as Sony and Marvel Studios continue their collaborations, it remains to be seen in what capacity Osborn will appear, if he shows up at all.

We do know that the two sides appear to be more collaborative for future projects, at least when it comes to Morbius starring Jared Leto. That film's first trailer featured a poster of Spider-Man and also appeared to include Spider-Man: Homecoming villain the Vulture played by actor Michael Keaton. While the trailer did not confirm that's who Keaton is playing in Morbius, his inclusion is a very direct reference to the Marvel character fans are already familiar with.

Hopefully we learn more about the future plans for Silver & Black in the coming weeks.