Contrary to earlier reports, Silk: Spider-Society has not cancelled its writers room. Instead, the series has entered a pause in production despite remaining in active development as it figures out how best to approach the show. The TV series, showrun by the stellar Angela Kang, focuses in on the story of Korean-American heroine Cindy Moon, who is bitten by the same radioactive spider which bit Peter.
The show did not resume development despite the ending of the WGA strike which according to a report from IGN, puts them in violation of Article 7 of the WGA and AMPTP’s agreement. Given all the negative publicity towards Madame Web that we’re seeing, it’s not surprising if the executives at Prime are having a bit of a re-strategy about how to approach the upcoming Silk series given that the female-led movie about the spider-women failed to make profits at the box office. Silk was originally slated as a movie before becoming a TV adaptation.
In what’s becoming a classic case of not understanding your own audience or what even made these comics so great in the first place, I’ll admit even I am incredibly confused as I know the IP rather well and am almost certain a general audience is unfamiliar with these compelling stories. Despite having featured strong women characters in the spider-universe such as Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider, Black Cat, and Jessica Drew, Sony has not made any clear announcements regarding its future or potential options for adaptations. Silk: Spider-Society is thus in this strange position of carrying the weight of all the women of the Spider-verse on its shoulders
Rumors are that the show is pivoting strategies to focus-in on a male-skewing audience. Which is a bit strange because there is already a plethora of that content, and more importantly, that they’ve never really committed to an alternative outside of the abysmal Madame Web movie.
Whereas Madame Web always seemed like a disconnected cash grab, especially when it was confirmed to have been been written by the teams behind the also loathed hit Morbius, there is a lot Silk: Spider-Society has to work with as an honest approach to an already strong comic character. Add the fact it will be created by beloved asian showrunner, Angela Kang and it’s genuinely surprising to see turmoil for what may have been a rather straightforward win for the company.
For those unfamiliar, Kang’s work as showrunner during final seasons of The Walking Dead actually made the show a critically acclaimed hit again. Rotten Tomatoes scores greatly recovered during her tenure, reviving what was left of a diminishing fanbase with a few solid seasons that many reviewers and fans, including myself, saw as a very beloved TV show return back to form, opinions on the finale aside (I was not a fan of that finale in the comic).
A lot of speculation is arising as to whether or not Sony should keep continuing with the Spider-Verse in terms of its random live-action adaptations. Evidence has shown that though people still show up in droves for superhero movies, audiences are feeling generally exhausted. If Sony were smart, they’d pivot onto the hits people actually want. IP based on its spinoff characters from its source material and more direct stories from the Spider-Verse movies, much like how they’re in talks of adapting Spider-Noir with Nic Cage (I think most fans are rooting for a good Silk or Spider-Gwen adaptation).
Still, there is much to be said about Sony’s lower budget but higher margin approach to its spider-man IP movies. And perhaps this is good news, as maybe they’ll take an honest look at what made the comics so good.
