That 'secret' female superhero film at Sony has finally been revealed

The female superhero movie that Sony hinted at way back in 2014 -- where does all that time go? -- turns out to be centered on Silver Sable and Black Cat, a pair of Marvel characters in the Spider-Man universe, Mashable has confirmed.

And according to The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news Wednesday, the latest treatment (based on a previous draft written by Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy) is being written by Chris Yost, who recently wrapped Thor: Ragnarok.

Translation: They're finally getting sorta serious about this project.

And they'd best get busy. THR says Sony wants to start shooting this fall, with former Sony pictures head Amy Pascal as one of the producers. (When the existence of the project was first whispered to the trades three years ago, the project was eyeing a 2017 release date -- but that's looking more like 2019 now, even if they do hit their ambitious start-date.)

Though Silver Sable and Black Cat are from Spider-Man's corner of the Marvel comics universe (a la Venom, who's also getting his own movie, apparently), sources close to the project caution that this is not a Spidey spin-off, per se. These are standalone characters -- Silver Sable first appeared in '85 as a war-criminal bounty hunter, while Black Cat is a burglar who was introduced in '79 -- who will be paired for their own thing.

Sony, meanwhile, is hoping to get its spidey-sense back via a re-team with Marvel Studios for Spider-Man: Homecoming this summer, and if that reboot of the reboot is as welcomed as Tom Holland was in Captain America: Civil War, then this franchise is back on solid webbing.

Silver Sable and Black Cat can only benefit from that, whether they're technically "spin-offs" or not.