S.J. Clarkson, having previously helmed multiple episodes of Jessica Jones, is now stepping up to Marvel on the big screen. At least, mostly. She’s not directing an MCU film, but she is helming a female-centric Marvel movie for Sony.
This is a mysterious project right now, as no one knows which superhero the film will revolve around.
Variety is speculating that it could be a Madame Web movie. However, Collider reports that while a Madame Web movie was/is in the works, it already had writers penning a script, and this film doesn’t. So they could be the same project – maybe writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Morbius) dropped off – or totally separate.
If it is a Madame Web movie, the character is usually depicted as an elderly, clairvoyant blind woman suffering from a chronic neuromuscular disease that makes it difficult to move and breathe. Thus, she’s connected to a life support system that looks like a spider web.
The studio is reportedly eyeing Charlize Theron and Amy Adams for the lead role, even though it isn’t clear who character will be at this point, but obviously they’re aiming high. They want the poorly titled Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters (yes, really), or the SPUMC for short, to be legitimate, and had been gearing up for a big year before the coronavirus pandemic.
That forced Sony to push Jared Leto vampire movie Morbius and Tom Hardy sequel Venom 2 to 2021. Both of those films have rich Spider-Man history, which is why it makes sense that this untitled project would potentially also be Spider-Man adjacent.
The studio seems to be trying to build to a massive, Avengers-esque showdown revolving around Spider-Man and his rogues gallery, which has been speculated elsewhere.
Clarkson has been directing television for nearly 20 years and has superhero experience thanks to helming episodes of Heroes, the aforementioned Jessica Jones, and The Defenders. She’s also directed episodes of Succession and Vinyl for HBO, as well as the Game Of Thrones prequel pilot that was not picked up to series.
She was poised to make her feature directorial debut with Star Trek 4 until Paramount shelved that project due to contract disputes with the main cast. Don’t expect those sorts of problems here. We now play the waiting game to see what character this film will be based around.
#Peace.Love.SJClarkson
