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Though some fans might see all of these Spider-Man related projects as proof of the character's oversaturation, others are excited to see what Sony might be building towards with all of this. The hush-hush nature of Olivia Wilde's involvement, coupled with the importance of the film being a female superhero means that this project is important to Sony's endgame, and there are certainly several characters who have had films rumored to be in the works for a while now.

Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)

When Olivia Wilde's film was first announced, the immediate assumption of most of the internet was that the film would revolve around the original Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew. Introduced in 1977 (in order to preserve a copyright on the name), the character rose in popularity before a sharp decline led to her being killed off, then revived, only to fall into general obscurity over the next two decades. It wasn't until 2005, when Brian Michael Bendis returned the character to active-costumed duty in the pages of The New Avengers that Jessica Drew once again became a prominent Marvel Universe staple.

Jessica has had several different retellings of her origins throughout her history as a character, although the most recent was written in 2006 by Brian Michael Bendis. In it, Jessica's parents are genetic scientists who are working for HYDRA on a research project that would splice the DNA of spiders onto the human genome in order to gain their adaptive properties. Unfortunately during their experiments, Jessica's mother's womb is blasted with a laser beam containing the genetic research they had been working on. This gives Jessica a multitude of powers, including super-strength, flight, and bio-electric energy manipulation; but it also causes HYDRA to realize that the future of their research now rests in her. Because of this revelation, they kill Jessica's parents and raise her as a HYDRA prodigy, training and experimenting on her until she learns the truth.

Both Marvel Studios and Sony share the rights to Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, albeit with a few conditions. While Sony can use her in any context, Marvel Studios usage of the character is contingent on her interactions with Spider-Man; if the Marvel/Sony deal were to fall through again, the MCU wouldn't be able to use her in any context related to Spider-Man. This is a great position for Sony, as they can introduce the character with close ties to Peter Parker and potentially use Olivia Wilde's movie as a way to connect her to their growing Spider-Verse franchise.

Related: MCU Spider-Man 3: Casting Kraven For The Sony Marvel Sequel

Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter)

Ironically enough, Jessica Drew isn't the only character to hold the mantle of Spider-Woman. During Drew's hiatus from comics between the early 80s and early 2000s, several other characters assumed the identity of Spider-Woman, with various levels of iconography and popularity. Arguably the most consistent and longest-lasting alternate Spider-Woman is Julia Carpenter, who was introduced in 1984 during the original Secret Wars event. Carpenter was a young woman who was secretly experimented on by The Commission, a government organization dedicated to creating their own superhero. By injecting Julia with a volatile mix of spider venom and plant DNA, they were able to give her abilities nearly identical to Spider-Man's. Her conceptual connection to Spider-Man is so strong that after seeing her in costume for the first time, Peter Parker (who was at the time attached to the symbiote) subconsciously wished for his black suit to look more like hers.

Carpenter was such a popular incarnation of the Spider-Woman persona that she still makes occasional appearances in Spider-Man comics to this day. Not only was she integral to helping Spider-Man defeat Kraven the Hunter's family in the Grim Hunt storyline, but she was also bestowed the mantle of Madame Web after the original was killed. She's also a unique character among the pantheon of spider-related characters because of the fact that she has a child; a responsibility that is generally avoided in superhero comics. If Sony decided not to use Jessica Drew because of her connections to HYDRA and SHIELD, Julia Carpenter would be a perfect (and arguably more fitting) replacement.

Silk

Created by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos, Silk has a rather recent and interesting history in the comics, especially in relation to the character of Peter Parker. The Marvel crossover storyline Original Sin followed the Avengers and several other characters as they investigated the murder of Uatu, a member of the all-seeing species the Watchers. Uatu's death has the unintended side effect of causing several characters in the Marvel Universe to witness "sins;" secret events that they either repressed from memory or were unable to witness. Peter Parker's "sin" was that the spider that turned him into Spider-Man actually bit someone else before it died: young Korean-American student Cindy Moon.

Unlike Peter, Cindy was unable to master her powers in a productive environment. Instead, she was kidnapped by Ezekiel Sims, a businessman who gained powers similar to Spider-Man's through ritualistic supernatural activity. Ezekiel kidnapped Silk to keep her safe from the Inheritors, an interdimensional group of vampiric beings who feed on the energy of Spider-Men across the multiverse. After discovering Silk's existence, Peter Parker finds and frees her, giving her the opportunity to start her life fresh and track down the family who she was taken from.

Related: Is Spider-Man 3 Actually Bad? Why Marvel Fans Hate It So Much

Silk's relative newness within the pantheon of spider-characters means that Sony and Olivia Wilde would have the freedom to build the character's mythos from scratch and imbue her with a sense of freshness and originality. In fact, there have already been multiple rumors that a film based on Silk is currently in the works, lending even more credence to the idea that this just might be what Wilde's film is about.

Madame Web

Madame Web is a character who, because of her backstory, physical conditions, and abilities, would be difficult to adapt in a traditional action-heavy superhero film. However, considering Sony announced last year that they're currently working on a Madame Web film with the screenwriters from Dracula Untold and The Last Witch Hunter, it's possible that they've figured out how to crack the code. Madame Web was once Cassandra Webb, a powerful mutant skilled in telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognitive visions. When she was younger, Cassandra was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease that left her blind and paralyzed, connected to a life- system designed by her husband that curiously resembled a spider web.

Despite her disabilities, Madame Web has been a crucial figure in the lives of Spider-Man and several other spider-based heroes, due to her ability to tap into the "Web of Fate" and communicate with spider-heroes across the multiverse. Unfortunately, the character was killed off during the Grim Hunt storyline, and her powers were transferred to Julia Carpenter. If Sony were truly trying to bring the character to life, they could introduce Cassandra in a solo film that forces her to team up with several other Spider-Men and Women, culminating in a live-action Spider-Verse event to which she could be the key.

Spider-Girl (Mayday Parker)