Sony Plots A Female Superhero Movie For 2017

It looks like Sony will beat Marvel, the current king of superhero movies (and arguably of diversity as well), to finally making a female-led superhero film. According to Deadline, one of the female members of the Sinister Six will get a solo film after the upcoming supervillain mashup.

The female superhero vehicle will reportedly be released in 2017, which makes perfect sense in light of the Sinister Six 2016 release date. Deadline quoted an anonymous insider as saying, "What other movies we could do was something everyone started talking about when shooting the last movie. With Salt, Wanted and Lucy, there is a huge appetite for this right now."

Sinister Six will be directed by Drew Goddard of Lost, Cloverfield, and World War Z fame, and has been rumored to include original members Doctor Octopus and Electro. Green Goblin and Black Cat are also rumored for the film, as they both appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Naturally, speculation is running wild that Black Cat/Felicia Hardy, played by Felicity Jones, will helm the solo film. This would also make sense, as she is the only significant female character introduced in the franchise who has a superhero/villain alter-ego in the comics. Besides, she's played by an actress who has been heralded as one of the most promising of her generation, and she was barely given two lines in her woefully underwritten part in Amazing Spider-Man 2, so she will likely (hopefully) have much more to do in future films. However, there is a chance that another female superhero will be introduced in Sinister Six, especially since Doctor Octopus is crucial to the origin stories of fan favorites Spider-Woman and Stunner.

If these reports are true, then Sony is way ahead of the curve. Although rumors have abounded about potential Black Widow or Captain Marvel films, Marvel president Kevin Feige has specifically declined to confirm any official plans for a female superhero movie. Similarly, although Warner Bros. will introduce Wonder Woman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman film, there is no word on the possibility of a Wonder Woman solo film.

UPDATE: Adding weight to these rumors are the folks at Hollywood Reporter who tell us that Westworld's Lisa Joy will write the script, and founder of Marvel Studios Avi Arad and The Amazing Spider-Man producer Matt Tolmach will both serve as producers.