Olivia Wilde set to direct Marvel movie for Sony

Olivia Wilde has reportedly signed a deal to direct a new Marvel film in conjunction with Sony Pictures.

US reports claim the Booksmart director will make a movie about a female superhero, but neither Marvel or Sony has officially commented.

Olivia appears to have confirmed the news on Twitter, sharing a report with a spider emoji.

Newsbeat has contacted Sony for official comment on the news, but they haven't got back to us yet.

Sony owns the rights to Marvel's Spider-Man franchise, but released its most recent film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, alongside Marvel, who created the characters.

Olivia also tweeted in response to Frozen actor Josh Gad, who said the news she was directing a Marvel movie was enough for him to "get through one more day."

"It's the least I could do in exchange for the gift of Olaf," she replied.

Posting the news on her Instagram story - and tagging Katie Silberman, who wrote Booksmart - Olivia wrote: "Reunited and it feels so good, especially because we never left each other's side in the first place."

Booksmart earned Katie a Writers Guild of America nomination for best original screenplay.

Spider-Woman has actually been the alter ego of several characters in Marvel comics over the years including Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson and Jessica Drew - who was the first in the late 1970s.

Most recently Gwen Stacey appeared as Spider-Woman in the award-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by Hailee Steinfield.

Following the reports, Marvel tweeted about Jessica Drew on their own Twitter.

It's been a busy 18 months for Olivia Wilde, who's made the transition to director after spending the past decade working as an actress.

She was best known for her playing Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama House.

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