Gina Prince-Bythewood Becomes First Black Woman To Direct Superhero Film

Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

A Spider-Man spinoff film starring characters Black Cat and Silver Sable was announced earlier this year from Sony Pictures, and now the director of the project has been revealed.

Gina Prince-Bythewood will be directing, as well as rewriting the script for the future comic book film (the script was originally in the hands of Christopher Yost, one of the writers for Thor: Ragnarok), titled Silver & Black. The Black Cat and Silver Sable movie will draw from the overall Spider-Man franchise and will be based on Marvel's Spider-Man universe, so there will not be any overlap between this movie and the forthcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming movie dropping in July.

Silver & Black will tell the story of Silver Sable, a mercenary who hunts war criminals and has helped Spider-Man as well as faced off against him on multiple occasions, and Black Cat, a burglar who has periodically dated Spider-Man but ultimately ends up turning against him.

By writing and directing Silver & Black, Prince-Bythewood has become the first black woman to direct a superhero film. Prince-Bythewood also recently directed the Freeform network's pilot for Marvel's upcoming Cloak & Dagger. Prior to this, the director was known for films such as Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees, and Beyond the Lights, as well as a recent series on Fox called Shots Fired.