Movies

Amazon orders multiple Marvel-Sony shows, starting with ‘Silk’

November 18, 2022

Amazon is officially moving forward with several live-action shows based on Sony-controlled Marvel characters, Variety has learned.

The first series under the deal will be ‘Silk: Spider Society,’ which was developed by ‘The Walking Dead’ showrunner Angela Kang with ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ producers Phil Lord. and Christopher Miller. Kang will serve as showrunner and executive producer on “Silk” under a new multi-year overall TV deal she signed with Amazon. Kang, Lord and Miller are all executive producers with former Sony boss Amy Pascal. Sony Pictures Television is the studio, with Lord and Miller currently under an overall deal there.

“Silk: Spider Society” will debut domestically on MGM+’s (née Epix) linear channel, followed by a worldwide launch on Prime Video. The show is based on characters created by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos for Marvel Comics. It follows Cindy Moon, described as “a Korean-American woman bitten by the same spider that bit Peter Parker, as she escapes imprisonment and searches for her missing family on the verge of becoming the superhero known as… Silk’s name”.

“Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Sony’s recent live-action, animated reimagining of the Spider-Man franchise represented one of cinema’s most dynamic superhero stories,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Film. ‘Amazon Studios. “Together with the creative vision of Angela Kang, we couldn’t be happier to bring ‘Silk: Spider Society’ to our MGM+ and Prime Video customers.”

The “Silk” series and the other shows based on Sony-controlled Marvel characters were originally reported to be in the works in September 2020. At that time, Lauren Moon was writing “Silk”, while it was reported in 2021 that Tom Spezialy had joined the series as showrunner under his own overall deal with Amazon.

“We look forward to bringing the adventures of Cindy Moon to life, thanks to the creative dream team of Chris and Phil, Angela and Amy, and our partners at Marvel and Amazon,” said Katherine Pope, President of Sony. Pictures Television. Studios. “We know this exciting series with new and never-before-seen characters and storylines will delight audiences watching first on linear MGM+ and then worldwide on Prime Video.”

“Angela is a pro whose perspective and creativity we greatly respect and admire,” Lord and Miller added. “She is also very funny. She loves these characters and we feel so lucky to have the chance to work with her to bring Cindy Moon’s story to the world.

Kang is best known for her work on “The Walking Dead.” She became the series’ writer in 2011 and co-executive producer in 2013. She was promoted to executive producer and showrunner in 2018 starting with the ninth season of the hit AMC series. “The Walking Dead” airs its series finale on Nov. 20, with Kang also co-creating a spinoff centered around Norman Reedus’ character Daryl Dixon. She launched her own production company, Kang & Co Entertainment, in 2020. Jason Sax, a former consulting producer on “The Walking Dead,” serves as the company’s executive vice president of development. Kang & Co’s current development slate includes a series adaptation of the novel “Black Sun” with author Rebecaa Roanhorse, as well as an adaptation of the sci-fi novel “The Postmortal” by Drew Magary.

Kang is replaced by UTA, Literate and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole LLP.

“I am beyond excited to join the Amazon Studios family for this next chapter in my career,” Kang said. “I look forward to working with the management team on various character-driven water cooler shows for global audiences and am excited to embark on my first challenge: bringing the Korean-American superhero to life. Silk on screen.”

It’s currently unknown what other Marvel characters will be featured in Amazon’s shows, though Sony currently controls over 900 such characters associated with the Spider-Man franchise.

Sony has released several Spider-Man live-action movies in the past and is currently working with Marvel Studios on the rebooted movie franchise starring Tom Holland through Columbia Pictures. Sony is also behind “Into the Spider-Verse”, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2019. Two sequels to this film are currently in the works, the first being “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”. – is set to hit theaters in June 2023.

To date, Sony has also released the live-action films “Venom” and its sequel “Let There Be Carnage” starring Tom Hardy, as well as “Morbius” starring Jared Leto. A third “Venom” movie is currently in development, while Sony is also working on film versions of characters like “Kraven the Hunter” starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and “Madame Web” starring Dakota Johnson, among several others.