Sony has reportedly announced a new female superhero "Spider-Man" spinoff film, which is set for a release in 2017.

According to Deadline, Lisa Joy, who co-created HBO's rendition of the 1970s science fiction classic "Westworld," has been hired to write the script for the upcoming Sony production. The movie, produced by Avid Arad and Matt Tolmach, will be centered on a female character in "the Spider-Man universe."

Although exactly which character to choose is still up for debate, a few possible candidates that come to mind for the female-led story include Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, Black Widow, Silver Sable and Spider-Woman.

Hollywood Reporter claimed that Sony's latest production idea was inspired by the box office success of Scarlett Johansson's role as a merciless warrior in action thriller "Lucy" just two weeks ago: "The film proved that there is an appetite for female-driven action movies. It topped the box office with $43.9 million in its debut, taking out its action pic competition, 'Hercules.'"

Meanwhile, Sony had to push back the release of "The Amazing Spider-Man 3," which was originally scheduled to hit theaters on June 10, 2016, to sometime in 2018 -- due to the poor performance of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" this summer.

In addition, Marvel Studios recently revealed that it is gearing up to launch a new comic book, starring a female protagonist Thor.

"The inscription on Thor's hammer reads 'Whosoever holds this hammer, if He be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.' Well it's time to update that inscription," Marvel editor Wil Moss said. "The new Thor continues Marvel's proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn't a temporary female substitute - she's now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy."