Marvel Rumor: Sydney Sweeney May Have Joined The MCU (But Not How You Think)
Sydney Sweeney might've thrown shade at Marvel's "Madame Web" on "Saturday Night Live," but that doesn't necessarily mean she's done with comic book movies, if rumors are to be believed.
According to regular Hollywood news scooper @MyTimeToShineHello on X (formerly Twitter), Sweeney is in talks to venture back into the superhero genre, but not by reprising her first Marvel role. This time, she would be joining a corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that's had a more substantial success rate than the one famous for making "Morbin' Time" a meme and a "Madame Web" trailer, which Twitter couldn't stop mocking.
According to the report, Sweeney has been in talks with Marvel Studios' top dog, Kevin Feige, about joining the MCU in a role that has yet to be confirmed. Whatever the project is will hopefully be a level-up from "Madame Web," which bombed at the box office and had the actor barely able to flesh out her nascent superhero role of Julia Carpenter, aka Spider-Woman, who was only in costume during the film's premonition sequences. So, what possible place could she fill in the ongoing world of thunder gods, fallen Avengers, and space-protecting heroes? One obvious possibility is a street-level hero/villain who could easily cross paths with one of Sweeney's "Euphoria" co-stars in the best way.
Let's not kid ourselves; Sydney Sweeney would make a great Black Cat
In the current MCU, one guy who is having a really tough time is Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man (Tom Holland). After losing his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and being forced to make everyone forget his civilian identity, the web-slinger has found himself more alone than ever. A great way to change that (and make things in his life a little more complicated) is to bring Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, into the mix as either an ally, an enemy, or even a mix of both. Simply put, Sweeney would be an ideal fit for this character.
In the comics, Hardy (co-created by Marv Wolfman, Dave Cockrum, and Keith Pollard) debuted as an adversary of Spidey's in "Amazing Spider-Man" #194. Over time, the bad luck-generating thief has had an on-off relationship with the wall-crawler, one that eventually leads her to become a hero herself. Adding this character to whatever plans are in place for "Spider-Man 4" would be an interesting Spider-Verse update.
The idea of Sweeney as Black Cat is made even more appealing since it's expected her "Euphoria" co-star, Zendaya, will reprise her role as Mary Jane. MJ will have no idea that she was once in a relationship with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, so seeing Peter navigate that aspect of his life while fending off Black Cat's advances would be enormously fun for audiences to watch, especially with an actor as charismatic as Sweeney in the black-and-white spandex. However, the fourth Spidey flick is still without a director, despite theories spinning around the rumor mill. For now, we'll have to wait to see if Black Cat — or any other Marvel character — crosses Sydney Sweeney's career path.