Marvel Fans Predict Madame Web-Like Disaster After Spider-Man Series Fires Writers

The "Silk: Spider Society" series is reportedly going through a significant setback. According to The Ankler, the writers' room for the upcoming show, made in partnership between Sony and Amazon MGM Studios, has paused, with all of the writers released from their contracts. While many assume a connection between this news and "Madame Web" bombing at the box office (coupled with its extremely negative reviews), it could very well be a coincidence in terms of timing.

The only person in the writers' room remaining on board is showrunner Angela Kang. Even though the studios have yet to comment on the situation, The Ankler suggests the show will be retooled "with a more male-skewing audience in mind." After Discussing Film posted the news on X (formerly known as Twitter), many fans began harping on Sony's inconsistent success with their "Spider-Man"-related properties. X user @tylerduran21 commented, "They saw the reactions and reviews for Madame Web and folded." Another fan was adamant that Sony was "about to ruin like 10 years worth of good people's work." Over on Reddit, one skeptic wrote: "In before they hire the Morbius & Madame Web writers again."

It's important to bear in mind that changes in the writer's room are not uncommon. Marvel fired the head writers of "Daredevil: Born Again" after production was underway, and fans remain optimistic regarding Charlie Cox's triumphant return as Matt Murdock.

"Silk: Spider Society" is still in the works, with the writers' room merely being paused as opposed to completely thrown away. The show's set to follow Cindy Moon, a Korean-American girl who gains extraordinary abilities from an irradiated spider and takes on the superhero moniker Silk. She's a fairly recent addition to the "Spider-Man" canon, being created by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos in 2014.

While the news of change-ups to the "Silk: Spider Society" writers' room came on the heels of "Madame Web," it seems like this could've been brewing for a while. Writing for the show was underway prior to the WGA strike in the summer of 2023, but even after the strike ended, Amazon didn't resume right away. The Ankler reported in November 2023 how the WGA sent a letter to Amazon Studios to get the writers back to work. While writers did return eventually, it wasn't long before they were all let go. It's unclear what precisely led to this development, but the fact that "Silk" could now possibly cater to a male-centric audience has led to a pessimistic response on social media. 

Numerous users on X are roasting the qualifier with an array of gifs and hot takes. Many have immediately assumed the worst, with one X user writing, "'Male-skewing audience' They're just going to sexualize cindy aren't they?" Some, like @kidfromindy, even assume this means the show might adapt one of the more controversial Silk storylines: "They're gonna adapt the Dan Slott cindy f**** peter story." At one point in the comics, Cindy Moon and Peter Parker engage in a sexual relationship, as there are pheromones between them since they were both bitten by the same spider. 

Fans on Reddit were also expressing some cynicism. "Oh god...they'll do the pheromones thing," one wrote. "Welp there goes all my excitement for this series," another admitted.