Spider-Man Spinoff SILVER & BLACK Finds Director

Sony's Spider-Verse is growing.

The Hollywood Reporter has word that Sony Pictures is preparing another Spider-Man spinoff movie, Silver & Black, focused on the Marvel Comics characters Silver Sable and Black Cat.

According to the article, Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct the movie, which is planning on a fall production start.  She is best known for the films Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees, and recently directed the Cloak & Dagger TV pilot based on the Marvel Comics superheroes.

Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal are producing the project.  Chris Yost, who worked on the upcoming Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok, is writing the most recent draft.  Lisa Joy, co-creator of HBO's Westworld, also worked on the script.

Silver & Black is the second project relating to Spider-Man, after Venom, which will star Tom Hardy and will be directed by Ruben Fleischer.

Silver Sable was created in 1985 by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, first appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #265. Silver Sablinova grew up in the small European state of Symkaria, and was trained as a mercenary by her father Ernst, who ran a Nazi-hunting group.  She first encountered Spider-Man while hunting the international criminal the Black Fox to recover valuable gems stolen by the thief.

She was later hired by a South African republic to neutralize the international terrorist Jack O'Lantern. She enlisted Spider-Man's aid against the Sinister Syndicate, and first formed an alliance with the Sandman.  Some time later, she joined forces with Spider-Man, Paladin, Solo, and Captain America to track down Sabretooth and the Red Skull, who masterminded a plot to pit the United States against Symkaria.

In the recent Ends of the Earth storyline involving one of Doctor Octopus' schemes, Silver Sable recovered Spider-Man and Black Widow after the Avengers were defeated by the Sinister Six.  She joined them in an attack on a Sahara facility controlled by Doctor Octopus, with the three successfully defeating Sandman after Spider-Man's allies at Horizon Labs helped determine a means of identifying the one particle of sand containing Sandman's consciousness.  She was apparently drowned by the Rhino in the final battle when Rhino pinned her to the ground in a flooding corridor in Doctor Octopus' base, with Rhino preferring to die after the loss of his own wife and knowing that Spider-Man will blame himself for the death even if Doctor Octopus' plan is stopped.  She returned, having survived, to request Spider-Man's help in thwarting a recent coup of Symkaria organized by Norman Osborn.  Sable explained that she survived her confrontation with the Rhino by using her suit to cloak herself, distracting him long enough for her to escape, using her 'official' death to discreetly hunt down most of her enemies.

Black Cat was created in 1979 by Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard, first appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #194.  Felicia Hardy was born in Queens, New York, and her father Walter pretended to be a traveling salesman, but was actually a world-renowned cat burglar who, before his arrest, encouraged her to never settle for second best. As a freshman at Empire State University, Felicia was raped by her boyfriend Ryan.  Hating the idea of being a victim, she trained herself in various fighting styles and acrobatics, intent on killing her rapist.  Finally, after months of preparing, she set out for revenge, but before she could find him, Ryan was killed in a drunk driving accident.  Furious that she was denied the chance for revenge, Hardy decided to utilize her new skills to follow in her father's footsteps. After amassing a fortune in stolen items, Felicia adopted her costumed identity as Black Cat.

She first donned the Black Cat costume in order to break her father out of prison.  On the same night, she met Spider-Man.  Unfortunately for Felicia, her father died, and she then faked her own death.  Despite her antipathy towards men, Felicia felt a kinship with Spider-Man, who was the first man she felt she could trust and she grew to believe herself in love with him.  Felicia looked for a way to earn his trust and continued with the Black Cat persona as a misguided attempt to attract his affection.  Seeing the good in Felicia, Spider-Man made every attempt to have her criminal record expunged and the two became involved romantically for some time before breaking up.

In recent months, Felicia's dark nature regained control and she poured gasoline around her apartment, burning a collection she spent years acquiring.  Spider-Man soon arrived and Peter tried to convince her that this wasn't her, but she told him that the Felicia he knew was gone and she was done being who others want.  She said that she controlled her fate and anyone who stands in her way will also be gone.