Jackpot wins big with Marc Guggenheim drafting new movie for Sony’s Spider-verse

The Sony side of the Spider-Man movie-verse is getting a new female superhero. Marvel comic book hero Jackpot, the super-powered scientist with a brief but complicated history, will be the lead character for an upcoming movie of the same name from seemingly indefatigable writer Marc Guggenheim, who will help expand Sony’s Spidey lore on the big screen even further.

Fresh off recent news that Sony may also be planning a Madame Web movie helmed by Jessica Jones director S.J. Clarkson, Deadline reports today that the studio has recruited Arrowverse and comics writing veteran Guggenheim to pen the script for Jackpot, which is based on the Marvel character that debuted as a reluctant force for good in 2007.

Since first appearing in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Swing Shift, Jackpot has been a recurring face in the Spider-Man comics, while also forging her own lore beginning in 2010 with Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Jackpot. Guggenheim himself has been integral to the character's evolution in the comics, as the writer behind the 2016 compilation Spider-Man: Jackpot. 

Introduced as an enigmatic nameless character who eventually turns out to be genetic researcher Sara Ehret, Jackpot gains her abilities after being exposed on the job to the “Lot 777” virus — while pregnant, no less. The virus recodes her cellular DNA and imbues her with immense strength, which she discovers in an incident that forces her to save her newborn child.

After doing a stint as a masked crime fighter, Sara tires of the superhero life and hands the reins to Alana Jobson, a friend who acquires her own abilities via a mutant growth hormone. But Jobson dies in a team-up with Spidey that goes haywire against female villain Menace, so Sara decides to reclaim the "Jackpot" mantle in her friend’s honor.

There’s no early word on casting, a director, or a release date, but longtime fans know that Guggenheim brings tons of superhero writing chops. In addition to his work for The CW’s Arrowverse (he’s the co-creator of both Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Guggenheim also has a deep comic book wiritng past, with credits including Spider-Man, Aquaman, Wolverine, and The Punisher, plus video game script credits including Perfect Dark Zero and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.