Spider-Man series snipped by Prime Video

Alright, Spider-Verse enthusiasts and binge-watchers of the world, gather around because I’ve got some bummer news from the high-flying, web-slinging universe of superhero TV shows.

Prime Video’s much-anticipated Silk: Spider Society series, which was set to dive into the adventures of Cindy Moon - a.k.a Silk, the Korean-American superheroine bitten by the same radioactive spider as Peter Parker - has officially been given the axe. Yep, just when you thought she’d be swinging onto your screens, it turns out she’s been unceremoniously swept under the rug.

So, what went wrong? This project has been simmering in the developmental pot since around 2019, and it’s been through more revisions than Spider-Man has had costume changes. Originally, Amazon was all in, ready to spin a web of live-action Marvel series starting with Silk. They had Angela Kang, a veteran from The Walking Dead, steering the ship as the showrunner. But as the years ticked by, Silk: Spider Society seemed to be stuck more in a loop than in development.

The show, which was supposed to be the first star in a galaxy of Spider-Man related series, just couldn’t find its footing. At one point, there was even talk of tweaking the focus so it wouldn’t hang so heavily on Cindy Moon herself - a show named Silk trying to sideline Silk herself? That’s like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the peanut butter - criminal.

Fast forward to the present, and during Amazon’s latest flashy presentation, while they were busy shining the spotlight on their new show Noir starring Nicolas Cage, Silk didn’t even get a mention.

The final decision to cut Silk loose seems to have been nothing more than a cold calculation about where to splash the cash. In a world where genre shows eat up budgets faster than a superhero zaps villains, Prime seems to have decided to put their money behind Cage and his dark and moody Noir, leaving poor Cindy Moon hanging by a thread. This isn’t just a one-off, either. Lately, superhero projects with female leads have been hitting more walls than usual, with other big names like Sony’s Madame Web and Disney’s The Marvels also struggling to find their audience.

It seems like even with superpowers, breaking through that glass ceiling is tougher than expected, but I digress.

But don’t lose all hope just yet - Sony Pictures Television, holding onto the rights like a precious gem, is now on the prowl to find a new home for Silk. So, who knows? Maybe Cindy Moon will get to shine after all, just on a different screen.