Written By Kieran Bugg
Jessica Drew will be the Spider-Woman in Sony’s Into The Spider-Verse animated sequel.
Spider-Woman will make her long-awaited cinematic debut in the upcoming sequel to the 2018 Oscar-winning animated film.
Golden Globe nominee Issa Rae voices the character.
This announcement is a bit surprising.
Sony may have the film rights to Spider-Woman persona.
However, Marvel Studios has the rights to Jessica Drew’s Hydra/S.H.I.E.L.D background.
In fact, Marvel Studios can use Jessica Drew at any time without Sony’s permission as long as they don’t portray her as Spider-Woman.
This has been debate as to whether or not the upcoming Spider-Woman live-action movie from Olivia Wilde will take place in the MCU.
Image: Marvel Comics Group
That’s why this surprise announcement is actually exciting in more ways than one.
It adds much more evidence to support that Jessica Drew and her Sony-owned alter-ego will be coming to the MCU at some point.
Hopefully, even more Sony-owned Marvel characters will follow.
In a previous article I wrote with Geekosity editor/founder Mikey Sutton, we broke down the current deal between Marvel Studios and Sony.
That included Sony’s library of films eventually being added to Disney Plus once their deal with Netflix expires.
Furthermore, there’s the possibility of Tom Holland having a cameo appearance in Spider-Woman.
Taking all of this into consideration, it suggests that the business relationship between Disney and Sony is warming up.
Sony certainly could’ve used other versions of Spider-Woman without such deep connections in Marvel Comics.
Sony Picks Jessica Drew for Spider-Woman in Animated Sequel
Image: Billboard
Writer Archie Goodwin and artist Marie Severin co-created Spider-Woman and her Jessica Drew secret identity in Marvel Spotlight No. 32 in 1977. (Sadly, both Goodwin and Severin have passed away.)
Marvel Comics introduced Spider-Woman to protect the copyright.
Any company, such as Marvel’s competitor, DC Comics, could’ve taken the name; it’d give readers the impression it’s a female version of Spider-Man.
But strong sales influenced Marvel to continue publishing her.
At the moment it’s unknown if this is part of a larger new agreement between the two studios.
It could be an arm of the last deal that was announced. Either way, it hints at possibilities.
Disney and Sony’s relationship is now stronger than ever before.
Consequently, that will continue to benefit the studios, the characters and the fans.
Related: How Olivia Wilde’s Spider-Woman Film Can Be Set In The MCU
