After directing multiple episodes ofJessica Jonesfor Marvel Television,S.J. Clarksonhas been tapped to develop a female-led comic book movie for Sony based on the studio’s universe of Marvel characters.
Varietybroke the news, and while the trade admits it isn’t sure who this mysterious Marvel movie will be centered around, it claims that Madame Web is the most likely culprit. Last September,Collider exclusively reportedthat a Madame Web movie was in the works at Sony, however, my sources hadMorbiusscribesMatt SazamaandBurk Sharplesswriting the script. Today’s report from Variety says Clarkson’s untitled project doesn’t have a writer aboard yet, so it’s unclear whether the two projects are one and the same. In this case, Clarkson is expected to work with the studio to cast an A-list star before hiring a writer to tailor the script to that performer’s strengths.
Known as Cassandra Webb, Madame Web is usually depicted as an elderly, clairvoyant blind woman suffering from a chronic neuromuscular disease that makes it difficult to move and breathe, and as such, she’s connected to a life support system that looks like a spider web. Given her frail condition, she does not actively fight any villains.
Sony is reportedly eyeingCharlize TheronandAmy Adamsfor the lead role, though again, we don’t even know what that character will be at this point, so we’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve heard rumors of Sony developing a Spider-Woman movie about Jessica Drew, so it’s always possible that Clarkson could be bringingthatcharacter to the big screen.
The Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, or the SPUMC as the studio calls it, had been gearing up for a big year before the pandemic hit, forcing Sony to move theJared Letovampire movieMorbiusand theTom HardysequelVenom 2to 2021. Of course, given those films and the studio’s rich Spider-Man history, that would mean that Clarkson’s project will be Sony’s first female-centric Marvel movie, which is pretty cool in its own right. Production remains a ways off, seeing as the industry is still trying to figure out how to shoot safely in the middle of the pandemic.
Clarkson has been directing television for nearly 20 years and got her first taste of superheroes with the NBC seriesHeroes. Since then, she has directed episodes ofJessica JonesandThe Defendersfor Netflix as well asSuccessionandVinylfor HBO, for whom she also directed theGame of Thronesprequel pilot that wasnot picked up to series.
Clarkson had been poised to make her feature directorial debut withStar Trek 4until Paramount shelved that projectdue to contract disputeswith its core cast. For the latest on Sony’sVenomsequel,click here.
