While Sony has ceded a great measure of control over Spider-Man to Marvel Studios and Disney, Sony remains committed to producing spin-offs featuring Spider-Man family characters on its own.  Venom, which Ruben Fleischer is helming with Tom Hardy in the title role (see “Tom Hardy to Star in Venom”), is slated to be released in late 2018, and it appears that the studio wants Silver and Black, a movie featuring the Silver Sable and the Black Cat to be the second.  Sony has hired Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees, Shots Fired) to helm Silver and Black, and plans to start production on the film in the fall.

The Silver Sable/Black Cat project was only announced in late March (see “Silver Sable, Black Cat Movie in Development”), and its rapid development is an indication, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that Sony is very serious about its “slate” of Spider-Man spin-off films that “will stand apart” from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Chris Yost, who penned Thor: Ragnarok for Marvel Studios, is writing the latest version of the Silver and Black script.

So far Sony has not revealed a release date for Silver and Black, though a 2019 release would be likely if the film does start shooting this fall as planned.