Credit: Marvel Studios / Sony PicturesMarvel Studios/Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has officially swung into theaters, introducing audiences to a whole new web of Spiders from throughout the Multiverse. One new addition to the animated franchise is Jessica Drew (AKA Spider-Woman), who initially looked much different before her appearance changed mid-production, according to newly-released sketches.
The eagerly-awaited sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse finally landed in theaters earlier this month after a long five years of waiting. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, with a screenplay penned by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham, Across the Spider-Verse debuted to rave reviews, earning $120.5 million in its opening weekend alone.
Once again following the story of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as he balances school, family, relationships, and his duties as Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, the movie also gives more screen time to Gwen Stacy/Spider-Ghost (Hailee Steinfeld), who finds herself working with the mysterious Spider-Society after a run-in with an alternate universe’s Vulture (Jorma Taccone).
Gwen is recruited to join the Spider-Society after Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) convinces the group’s reluctant leader, Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), to give her a dimension-jumping bracelet. In the scene, Jessica tells Gwen that she’s “about seven months” pregnant—a nod to the character’s 2015 comic run by author Dennis Hopeless.
And recently, concept artist Mauro Belfiore took to social media to reveal that Jessica Drew originally had a very different look than what audiences saw in Across the Spider-Verse. In the newly-released images, it seems that Sony went through many iterations of the character, making her Asian and, at one point, white, as her comics counterpart is.
Creators eventually landed on making Spider-Woman Black, but landing on the perfect look for the character took a lot of trial and error. In his Instagram post, the concept artist noted that his task at the time was “to explore faces, hairstyles, and attitude of the character,” sketching up different scenarios of Jessica hanging out with Gwen, riding her signature motorcycle, and facing off against bad guys:
Jessica Drew explorations for #acrossthespiderverse. My task at that time was to explore faces, hairstyles and attitude of the character. Costume design here is based on Kristafer Anka work that was selected by directors at that time.
Ultimately, the character ended up sporting an eye-catching afro, a sleek red jacket, hoop earrings, and comic-accurate shades—easily making her one of the Multiverse’s most fashionable Spider-People.
Hopefully, after making waves with viewers, the fan-favorite Jessica Drew will get a bigger role in the next Spider-Verse installment, which is currently projected to release in March 2024. There are also rumors that the character will pop up in the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff, Madame Web, though any speculation has yet to be confirmed.
What do you think of Jessica Drew’s multiple character designs? Are you hoping to see more Spider-Woman in the next film? Let us know in the comments below.