Recently, it was announced that Amazon Studios was shutting down production of Silk: Spider Society, a series that would have seen the live action debut of Cindy Moon, a Korean-American female Spider-Hero. According to Nellie Andreeva’s Deadline article, the series had been in production since 2019 and had been facing troubles such as changes in showrunners, writers and script issues.
As a fan of Cindy as a character, this is especially disappointing to hear given that this year marks 10 years since Silk’s comic book debut.
Created by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos, Cindy Moon, aka Silk, is a journalist who first appeared in 2014’s Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1. Her existence was previously unknown until the mercenary known as the Orb killed the alien being known as the Watcher and revealed several of his secrets to the Avengers, which then included Peter Parker. With Cindy’s existence being one of those secrets, Peter rushed to the bunker where Cindy was isolated and set her free.
From there, Cindy would take her first steps toward heroism by weaving her own costume, battling Electro and Black Cat, and participating in the first Spider-Verse comic book crossover event that resulted in the defeat of Morlun, a hunter of Spider-people and the reason Cindy had been locked away. She also had some weird-ass pheromone shit with Peter that resulted in them being in lust for a bit.
Thankfully, Cindy would truly come into her own thanks to writer Robbie Thompson, artists Stacey Lee and Tana Ford, letterer Travis Lanham and colorist Ian Herring. Through the course of two solo series and one brief crossover book, they would shape Cindy into a resilient heroine who grappled with anxiety and healed from trauma while searching for her missing family. It is this version of Cindy Moon that has resonated with me personally, so much that I would do a Shelfdust essay on Silk’s rock bottom moment in issue #6 of her initial run.
Moreover, the first two runs of Marvel’s Silk series would lay the groundwork for future runs by writers and artists such as Maureen Goo, Emily Kim, Takeshi Miyazawa and Ig Guara. As someone who has reviewed every run after Thompson’s for Women Write About Comics and ComicsXF, I believe her best run to date is her most recent one from 2023, which has been collected as “Nightmare Boulevard.” It shows Cindy becoming closer to her younger brother Albert while dealing with some fantastical dream scenarios and was a ton of fun to read.
Beyond her solo series, Cindy has also been a team player. She’s one of three Spider-Women, a member of the Asian-American led superhero teams Agents of Atlas and The Protectors, and a co-founding member of the Spidey-heroes known as the Order of the Web. With an impressive solo series and entertaining features in other superhero books, you’d think Marvel would realize that Cindy Moon is live-action hero material. Alas, she has yet to be given her due onscreen.
Prior to the announcement of Silk: Spider-Society, Cindy Moon had made a couple of small appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Tiffany Epensen. Her first appearance was in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), as Peter Parker’s classmate and fellow academic decathlon member. In addition to this, Cindy also made a brief cameo appearance in Avengers: Infinity War (2018), in a scene involving Peter Parker’s friend Ned Leeds causing a distraction so Peter can go help the Avengers.
If I am being honest, I would rather Silk’s debut be an animated one. Not only would it allow her to shine without her story being watered down, but it would allow a wide audience to discover her character for the first time. Despite the fact that Silk is in her 30s, her character arc is something teens and adults alike could relate to. Silk’s animated film could be the next chapter in Sony’s Spider-Verse series, once Miles Morales’ story is complete. It could combine elements from new and old animated shows, the grittiness of X-Men Evolution and the wholesome family moments of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
Despite not being as well known as OG Spider-Man Peter Parker, Cindy Moon has managed to carve a path all her own, earning many loyal fans like myself. May Cindy’s light shine for many more years to come.
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
