Amazon scraps writers' room for Marvel series 'Silk: Spider Society'
Sony's Spider-Man Universe is evolving into a distinctive franchise. Alongside film projects like Venom, Morbius, and Madame Web, the universe aims to venture into television with Silk: Spider Society. However, the live-action TV series—which Sony is developing for Amazon—is experiencing a major development revamp. Per reports, nearly the "entire writing room" has been let go, with showrunner Angela Kang and co-executive producers still on board. Here's what happened.
Why does this story matter?
In November 2022, Amazon greenlit multiple live-action shows centered around Marvel characters under Sony's control. Leading the pack is Silk: Spider Society, developed by Kang, showrunner of The Walking Dead, and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse). Kang, now under a multi-year overall television deal with Amazon, will serve as showrunner and executive producer for Silk, which centers on Korean-American superheroine Cindy Moon, aka Silk.
'Silk' writers' room slated to restart in January
In December 2023, Deadline revealed that the writers' room for Silk is tentatively scheduled to resume in mid-January. Notably, it would be among the last series—which had an active writers' room when the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike began on May 2 last year—to reopen after the strike. The WGA notified Amazon Studios that they were obligated to resume work after the strike ended on September 27, 2023, threatening legal action if they failed to comply.
Refocusing on male-skewing audience: Report
According to The Ankler, it seems Silk is also undergoing a shift in focus to target a more male-oriented audience, which is interesting since the series actually revolves around a young superheroine. The studio and its streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video, have previously achieved success with male-centric series like Reacher, Jack Ryan, and The Terminal. Nevertheless, they have also seen positive results with female-oriented young adult series, such as The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Cindy Moon's character and storyline
Silk follows the popular Marvel Comics character Cindy—a Korean-American in her late teens and twenties—who shares a common origin with Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. Bitten by the same radioactive spider that gave Parker his extraordinary abilities, Cindy made her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1 in 2014. In Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Tiffany Espensen reportedly portrayed Cindy, featuring in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and the extended cut of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Look at new Sony Spider-Man universe movies on way
The news of Silk comes just days after Sony's latest Spider-Man spinoff, Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson as Cassandra "Cassie" Webb, hit theaters. This aside, Amazon has also approved other Marvel-Sony projects, including Spider-Man Noir, with Nicolas Cage reportedly in discussions for the lead role. Other upcoming spin-off projects in various production stages include Kraven the Hunter, Venom 3, and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
