Spike Lee May Enter Sony’s SPIDER-MAN Spin-Off Universe With NIGHTWATCH

Word on the street has long pegged director Spike Lee for one of Sony's forthcoming superhero joints, and today it's finally been confirmed what that movie is, how it fits in with the rest of Sony's superhero landscape, and who's lined up to write it. 

Take it away, The Hollywood Reporter:

"(Spike Lee) is circling to direct a movie for Sony based on the Marvel character Nightwatch, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Sources say Lee's involvement is early at this point, but that he could potentially direct a film written by Luke Cage showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker centering on African-American scientist  Dr. Kevin Trench, first introduced in the comics in 1993."

Yes, according to THR, Lee is very close to signing on to direct Nightwatch, based on the Spider-Man character of the same name. This would be one of several Spider-Man spin-off movies Sony has planned, including Venom (hitting theaters this October) and Silver & Black (arriving next February). These films are in addition to the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel Sony's currently working on with Marvel, but - if the studio's to be believed - would take place somewhat outside the already-established MCU. 

Is Lee a good fit for this material? To be perfectly honest, I'm entirely unfamiliar with the Nightwatch character (my entire opinion at this time is: "Huh, that dude looks kinda like Spawn"), but I do know that I am very, very interested to see Spike Lee take on a big-ass superhero movie. What would that even look like? One imagines high energy, lots of color, a fair amount of grit, and a very strong cast. The mind also reels to imagine what Lee would do with the set pieces required by this genre. All in all, this is exciting news.

Here's THR on what we can expect from the character:

"(Nightwatch) debuted in Web of Spider-Man No. 97, the alter-ego of Dr. Trench, a man who discovered his own corpse wearing a futuristic suit of armor that he went on to steal and wear while fighting crime and trying to discover the origins of his alternate self and his new costume. (Time-travel was the answer to the former — Trench would later be thrown back in time, dying before he could talk to his past self, although he’d later recover — whereas the costume’s origins are far too complicated to explain here.) When not teaming up with Spider-Man, he also found time to partner with Captain America, Deathlok and others before the end of his short-lived comic book series."

Yeah, okay. We're 100% interested in seeing Spike Lee (and Cheo Coker!) put their stamp on this material. There's nothing further to report at this time, but rest assured we'll be monitoring the situation closely for updates. Stay tuned, everyone.