‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ may have stumbled at the box office, but it can hardly be called a failure.  Even so, Sony seems to be re-evaluating its ambitious plan to craft an entire cinematic universe around Marvel’s flagship hero.  Even so, already in-development movies like ‘Sinister Six’ and ‘Venom’ are moving forward and earlier it was announced that the studio planned to showcase a female character in a solo movie.  Well, that rumor appears to have been bitten by a radioactive spider and has now mutated with discussion that Sony will actually combine several Spidey-related female characters in one film.

This was the initial report:

“We heard that Sony has plans for a female Spidey character to get her own movie, but what if the plans were for all the Spidey characters to come together in one movie? That’s the premise of the project they’re calling ‘Glass Ceiling’ (likely not the actual title) – a team-up movie that would bring the female Spidey characters together.”

Now of course, the speculation is which characters will be used.  Or even how many of them.  The most likely choice is Black Cat, Felicia Hardy a character that actually appeared in ‘AMS2’, played by Felicity Jones.  In the comics, Black Cat is a thrill-seeker who turns to a life of crime for excitement, but she eventually turns over a new leaf and becomes a hero and for some time, Spider-Man’s girlfriend.

Another possibility is Silver Sable.  Since the latest ‘Spider-Man’ films have touched on Peter Parker’s parents’ mysterious past as government agents, that could open the door for this international mercenary/secret agent to plausibly enter Spider-Man’s world.

More of a stretch would be one of the Spider-Women, the most famous of which are Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter.  The only issue is that neither has a direct connection to Peter Parker.  The first Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, was created hastily in order for Marvel to secure the rights to the name, after they got wind that animation company Filmation was planning to create a Saturday morning cartoon of the same name.  Drew also has one of the most convoluted back histories in all of comics.  Julia Carpenter has a much lower profile and can create psychic energy webs, but her black uniform did inspire Spider-Man’s Venom suit.  But since neither character has a real tie to Spider-Man, it’s not clear whether or not Sony even has the rights to them.

Another character whose rights are unclear is Firestar.  The mutant character, Angelica Jones, can manipulate heat and fire and was created for the Saturday morning TV series ‘Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends.’  The problem with her is that since she was created for the out-of-continuity cartoon, she didn’t actually exist in the comics for years and when she was introduced, it was in connection to the X-Men, not Spider-Man.  Writers have attempted to connect her to Spidey, as well as Ice Man, the third part of the “Spider-Friends,” but she largely isn’t considered a real Spider-Man supporting character, AND being a mutant, her rights may actually be held by Fox who have the rights to the X-Men and related characters.  (Then again, she could fall into the gray area that allows both Fox and Marvel to use Quicksilver.)

And once again, along those lines, the most recent ‘Spider-Man’ cartoon featured White Tiger as a supporting character.  But in the comics, the character, Ava Ayala, isn’t really connected to Spider-Man specifically, plus the rights to the other supporting cast members from the show, Nova, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are held by Marvel.  The Nova Corps appeared in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ and Cage and Iron Fist have their own shows coming from Netflix.

A possible team member that some are throwing out is a new character named Silk, who was apparently bitten by the same spider that gave Peter Parker his powers.

One final thought is Scream, essentially a female version of Venom.  Since Sony is moving forward with a ‘Venom’ movie that will also involve another symbiote, Carnage, it’s plausible that they could introduce or at least allude to Scream with that same movie, setting her up for ‘Glass Ceiling’ or whatever it ends up being called.

Of course, take everything with a grain of salt.  Sony seems to be in a bit of a state of disarray following ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2.’  This is just a rumor, but the idea of a female-driven ‘Spider-Man’ movie has popped up repeatedly, but things may depend on how well the movies already in the works actually perform.

What do you think?  What female Spider-Man characters do you want to see on the big screen?  Any casting suggestions?  What sort of tone would you like to see the film adopt?

Source: Cinema Blend