Petition to cast Selena Gomez as Spider-Woman receives almost 2,000 signatures

On January 9, a fan of Selena Gomez started a Change.org petition demanding the Hands to Myself singer be cast as Spider-Woman in future Marvel X Sony projects. Within a day, the petition has garnered over 1600 signatures out of its target of 2,500.

The fan petition cited Gomez's recent role in Hulu's critically-acclaimed, mystery-comedy series, Only Murders in the Building, as one of the reasons for considering her for the portrayal of Spider-Woman. The 29-year-old singer and actor was nominated for the Critic's Choice Award owing to her role as Mabel in the show.

In a part of the petition's description, the fan claimed,

"Selena is a devoted person and is extremely passionate in her job. Please consider Selena for this role!"

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Fans rally behind the petition seeking to have Selena Gomez be cast as Spider-Woman

The petition that has asked for Selena Gomez to be cast as Spider-Woman (Image via Sportskeeda)

As Spider-Man: No Way Home swung past $1.5 billion in the global box office, a petition seeking Gomez's casting as the Marvel comic character went viral within a day.

With MCU bringing in elements from the multiverse, Marvel fans have been excited over numerous characters from the Spider-Man comics that might feature in future crossovers.

Disclaimer: The following part of the article will contain spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Fans all over Twitter have supported the petition demanding Selena to play Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman. Most tweets showcased the resemblance between the character's recent comic interpretation to Gomez's look.

The viral petition for her casting comes amidst the relationship rumors between the Wizards of Waverly Place's star and Captain America actor Chris Evans.

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Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew's comic book origin

Jessica Miriam "Jess" Drew (Spider-Woman) debuted in 1976's Marvel Spotlight Vol 1 #32 and was created by Archie Goodwin, Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney, and Marie Severin.

The character has one of the most interesting origins stories. When she was around one year old, Jessica moved to Transia, near Wundagore Mountain. Unfortunately, in Transia, Drew became ill from the Uranium radiation which was found inside their property's land.

Her father, Jonathan Drew, a geneticist and arachnid expert, synthesized a serum from several spiders' blood and injected it into her to offset her radiation-based illness. Jessica was then kept in a genetic accelerator chamber designed by her father's research partner, Herbert Wyndham (The High Evolutionary).

The chamber delayed Drew's aging and kept her in stasis to complete her treatment for several years. When she got out of the chamber, Jessica Drew had powers like Spider-Man, including crawling, super strength, enhanced speed and agility. She also had the ability of regenerative healing factors, venom blasts (stuns), and gliding in the air.

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Is there a way for Spider-Woman to make her appearance in the MCU?

Sony and Marvel have successfully brought in multiple characters from the Spider-Verse in NWH, with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's respective variants of Peter Parker appearing alongside Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Furthermore, the film also hinted that Venom will debut in the MCU soon.

This makes it easier to introduce Jessica Drew or Spider-Woman in the MCU as a variant of Spider-Man from another universe or as an existing character in the main timeline.

Moreover, in 2020, Olivia Wilde was reportedly in talks with Sony to develop a movie about a female Marvel character. Now, Sony owns rights to the Spider-Man and the associated characters, so it is plausible that Wilde was roped in to direct a Spider-Woman or Black Cat film.

However, multiple sources since then have reported that the untitled project is likely to be a Spider-Woman origin story.

Jessica Drew is also set to appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One), where Issa Rae will voice her.