Highly skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant
Expert markswoman, swordswoman, gymnast and strategist
Wears synthetic stretch fabric lined with Kevlar
Silver Sable (Silvija Sablinova)[1] is a character appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created byTom DeFalco andRon Frenz, Silver Sable first appeared inThe Amazing Spider-Man #265 (June 1985).[2] She is usually depicted as a mercenary, hunter ofwar criminals, leader of theWild Pack, and owner of Silver Sable International. Her work as a mercenary has sometimes brought her into conflict with severalsuperheroes. Silver Sable is primarily an ally and occasional opponent ofSpider-Man.
The character has appeared in several media adaptations over the years, including animated series and video games.
Created byTom DeFalco andRon Frenz, Silver Sable first appeared inThe Amazing Spider-Man #265 (June 1985).[3][4] The inspiration for the character comes from safari cards bought by DeFalco.[4][5] After her debut, she made occasional appearances in various Spider-Man titles, often (but not always) as an ally.[4][6]Marvel Comics began to publish the seriesSilver Sable and The Wild Pack in June 1992, written byGregory Wright and penciled bySteven Butler. This series lasted for 35 issues, until it was canceled in 1995.[7]
After the cancellation, Silver made occasional guest appearances in various comics.[8] Alimited series titledSable and Fortune and featuring Silver Sable andDominic Fortune began in 2006. Originally solicited as a six issue series,[9][10]Sable and Fortune was later shortened to four issues.[11][12]
The operations of Wild Pack and Silver Sable International drive the national economy of the fictional small European state ofSymkaria. The nameWild Pack had been used by the mercenary squad led byCable for some time, until a legal notice forced them to change it toSix Pack.[13]
The country of Symkaria is adjacent toLatveria, the nation ruled byDoctor Doom.[14] Silver Sable and Victor Von Doom have an annual diplomatic dinner at Castle Doom, situated in Doomstadt. Apparently, the friendship between the two states is deep-rooted and dates back to World War II.[15][6]
The family of Silver Sable is composed of her father Ernst Sablinov,[6] her uncle Morty,[16] and the young cousin Anna, who Silver Sable calls her niece, orphaned daughter of an unnamed uncle.[17][18] Silver's mother, Anastasia Sablinova, was killed in front of her by enemies of her father, who ran a Nazi-hunting group.[19] After this traumatic event, she was trained by her father to become a Nazi-hunting mercenary.[20] After her father's death, she became the leader of theWild Pack, a team formed by Ernst to apprehend international criminals.[21] She also founded her own company, the Silver Sable International.[6][4] Like her father's, Sable's squad originally focused on bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, but over time they started to accept other type of missions for profit.[22]
Silver was briefly married to theForeigner,[23] an international assassin and the head of the 1400 Club, but they divorced after she discovered his attempt to kill the President of U.S.[24] After that, their relation varied between non-belligerent and attempts to kill one another.[25][26]
Uncle Morty functions as Sable's assistant, organizing some missions and sometimes trying to influence her sense of judgement.[17][27] Silver supports Anna's boarding school education.[17] WhenHydra agents took over Anna's school, Sable infiltrated it, rescuing the hostages with the help of Spider-Man,Sandman, and the Wild Pack.[17]
While hunting the international criminalBlack Fox to recover valuable gems stolen by the thief, she was inadvertently thwarted by Spider-Man.[3] She was later hired by a South African government to neutralize the international terroristJack O'Lantern.[22] She enlisted Spider-Man's aid against theSinister Syndicate,[28] and forms a first alliance with the Sandman.[29] Some time later, she joined forces with Spider-Man,Paladin,Solo, andCaptain America to track downSabretooth and theRed Skull, who masterminded a plot to put the United States against Symkaria.[30][31][32][33][34][35]
She later worked with Spider-Man to steal incriminating documents from aMaggia money launderer; soon after, she formedThe Outlaws.[36] An intelligence mission in Iraq resulted in the death of a Wild Pack member, and she denied compensation to the slain man's family due to his negligence.[37] She devised an initiation test for theProwler to join The Outlaws, while teaching him a lesson in humility in the process.[38] She hired The Outlaws to retrieve a Symkarian nuclear device in England and to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a Canadian official.[39][40][41]
Sable's cordial diplomatic relationship with Doctor Doom once proved almost fatal when the annual dinner happened to fall on the time when Doctor Doom's castle had been overtaken by an alien impersonator during theInfinity War crisis. Although Silver noticed that the doppelgänger looked differently, she interpreted it as Doom's desires to change his look.[15] During the dinner, Sable's driver was killed by Doom's robots and a human butler was killed by the doppelgänger himself.[15] Sable protested the brutality and was attacked herself, leading to a chase throughout the castle.[15] The Silver Sable International's soldier came to rescue her, despite Sandman himself also having been replaced by another doppelgänger.[15][42]
Silver has collaborated with various superheroes, including the aforementioned Spider-Man,[6] thePunisher,[43]Daredevil,[4]Luke Cage,[26][44]Venom,[45] and Captain America.[23] Sandman was a mercenary working for Silver Sable as part of her Wild Pack for a long time,[46] heading the Intruders, a squad of superpowered mercenaries employed by Silver Sable International.[24]
Later, Sable was hired to protect Professor Wolfgang Hessler holed up in the Symkarian monastery of St. Eboars. Wolfgang knew of a powerful genetic weapon and, attacked by guilt, was working on a neutralizing agent to give to the world so the weapon would be useless.[47] For this mission, Silver Sable hired a new team formed byShen Kuei, Paladin, and what she thought wasNomad but turned out to beMadcap. The group fought theHeroes for Hire, who had been hired to take the Professor.[48] Sable's team had the upper hand until Deadpool freed his Heroes allies and Luke Cage turned out to be a traitor, sending the Professor off to theMaster of the World.[47]
During the "Shadowland" storyline, Silver Sable ended up paired up withMisty Knight, Paladin, andShroud when Daredevil'sHand ninjas secretly targeted members of the mafia.[49]
During the "Ends of the Earth" storyline involving one ofDoctor Octopus' schemes, Silver Sable recovered Spider-Man andBlack Widow after theAvengers are defeated by theSinister Six.[50] She joined them in an attack on a Sahara facility controlled by Doctor Octopus, with the three defeating Sandman after Spider-Man's allies atHorizon Labs helped determine a way to identify the one particle of sand containing Sandman's consciousness.[50] She was apparently drowned by theRhino in the final battle when Rhino pinned her to the ground in a flooding corridor in Doctor Octopus' base.[51] Even though Doctor Octopus' plan had been stopped, Rhino also decided to kill himself in the process after the loss of his own wife.[51] However,Madame Web later revealed to Spider-Man that Silver Sable did not perish in the fight within Doctor Octopus' underwater base.[52]
She was later seen with other dead people in Peter Parker's post-mortem experience.[53]
She has later revealed to be alive,[54] as she requested Spider-Man's help in thwarting a recent coup of Symkaria organized byNorman Osborn.[55] Sable explained that she had survived her confrontation with the Rhino by using her suit to cloak herself, distracting him long enough for her to escape, using her apparent death to discreetly hunt down most of her enemies.[56] She also had a brief affair withNightcrawler, and helped him andMystique in taking down anOrchis facility run by theVulture.[57]
During the "Venom War" storyline, Silver Sable does a job in Istanbul with Dominic Fortune, who persuaded her to reactivate the Wild Pack.Liz Allan calls in Silver Sable and the Wild Pack to help deal with the Zombiotes unleashed byMeridius (a possible future version ofEddie Brock). When confronted by the Zombiotes in theLife Foundation building, Silver Sable activates the Lethal Protector mode on their special armbands, causing them to become possessed by their assigned Symbiotes. After Wild Pack member Navvab Tadjvar is bitten by a Zombiote, theAgony symbiote left him and set off his armband's kill switch that takes out many of the Zombiotes. Silver Sable is then possessed by the Agony symbiote as she gets a transmission from Meridius so as not to interfere.[58]
Silver Sable is an athletic woman with no superhuman powers.[4][59] She is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, and skilled in various martial arts.[4][59] She is also an expert markswoman, swordswoman, gymnast and strategist.[59] Silver Sable also possesses strong leadership capabilities.[59]
Silver Sable wears synthetic stretch fabric lined withKevlar throughout the torso.[59] She often carries a katana, chais (three-pronged half-moon throwing projectiles), a stun gun, and a derringer.[59][60] Silver Sable generally has the latest technology and equipment at her disposal, provided by Silver Sable International.
When possessed by theAgony symbiote, Silver Sable possesses its powers and abilities.[58]
Deirdre Kaye ofScary Mommy called Silver Sable a "role model" and "truly heroic."[61] Brenda Hernandez ofScreen Rant named Silver Sable one of Spider-Man's "10 Best Female Villains."[62] Peter Eckhardt ofComic Book Resources ranked Silver Sable 6th in their "10 Best Mercenaries In Marvel Comics" list,[63] while Derek Faraci ranked her 5th in their "10 Coolest Bounty Hunters In Comics" list.[64]
An alternate universe version of Silver Sable from Earth-71490 named Silver Sabliona appears in "Edge of Spider-Verse" (vol. 5) #2. This version is a fashion designer.[65]
An alternate universe version of Silver Sable appears inWhat If? (vol. 2) #21. This version entered a relationship with Spider-Man after his wifeBlack Cat was accidentally killed by the Paladin.[75]
Sony cancelled its planned female team-up filmSilver & Black (see below) in August 2018 to rework it as two separate solo films focusing on each of the title characters, Silver Sable andBlack Cat respectively.Silver & Black's planned directorGina Prince-Bythewood was expected to remain involved as a producer.[77] By January 2020, the project was believed to be in development as a television series,[78] which Prince-Bythewood confirmed in April 2020. She suggested that it could be a limited series and that it had the potential to be released onDisney+.[79]
In March 2017, it was reported thatSony Pictures was developing aBlack Cat and Silver Sable-centered film with writerChristopher Yost.[80] It was intended to be a part of ashared universe called theSony's Spider-Man Universe, which is centered on characters from theSpider-Man mythology and began with the live-actionVenom in 2018.[81] The film was to be more adult-oriented and though it would have taken place in the same reality as theMarvel Cinematic Universe, they would have not crossed over with each other.[81] In May 2017, it was announced thatGina Prince-Bythewood would direct the film, now titledSilver & Black.[82] Production was to begin in March 2018, but the film was later delayed "indefinitely". Prince-Bythewood revealed that the cause of the delay was due to script issues.[83] While the film was initially scheduled to be released on February 8, 2019, Sony removed the release date from the schedule.[84] In August 2018, Sony announced thatSilver & Black was canceled in favor of having both characters appear in their own feature films.Black Cat was reportedly a re-worked version of theSilver & Black script while the studio was searching for screenwriters forSilver Sable. Prince-Bythewood will serve as a producer on both projects.[85] As of April 2020, the film is now believed to be cancelled in favor of the proposed live-action television series (see above).[79]
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^John Ostrander (w), Pasqual Ferry (p), Jaime Mendoza III (i). Heroes for Hire, no. 10 (April 1998). Marvel Comics.
^Antony Johnston (w), Wellington Alves (p), Nelson Pereira (i). Shadowland: Blood on the Streets, vol. 1, no. 1 (October 2010). Marvel Comics.
^abDan Slott (w), Humberto Ramos (p), Victor Olazaba (i). The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 684 (June 2012). Marvel Comics.
^abDan Slott (w), Stefano Caselli (p), Stefano Caselli (i). The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 687 (August 2012). Marvel Comics.
^Dan Slott (w), Giuseppe Camuncoli (p), Klaus Janson, Daniel Green and Giuseppe Camuncoli (i). The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 690 (September 2012). Marvel Comics.
^Dan Slott (w), Humberto Ramos (p), Victor Olazaba (i). The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 700 (February 2013). Marvel Comics.
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^Steve Foxe (w), Kei Zama (p), Kei Zama (i). "Counterfeit Catwalk" Edge of Spider-Verse, vol. 5, no. 2 (October 5, 2022). United States: Marvel Comics.
^Dan Slott (w), Olivier Coipel (p), Wade von Grawbadger (i). "Spider-Verse Part Two: Superior Force" The Amazing Spider-Man, vol. 3, no. 10 (November 19, 2014). United States: Marvel Comics.
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^Brian Michael Bendis (w), Mark Bagley (p), Scott Hanna (i). Ultimate Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 86 (January 2006). Marvel Comics.
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^Brian Michael Bendis (w), Mark Bagley (p), John Dell (i). Ultimate Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 90 (April 2006). Marvel Comics.
^Brian Michael Bendis (w), Stuart Immonen (p), Wade von Grawbadger (i). Ultimate Spider-Man, vol. 1, no. 123 (August 2008). Marvel Comics.
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^Danny Fingeroth (w), Jim Valentino (p), Chris Ivy (i). What If?, vol. 2, no. 21 (January 1991). Marvel Comics.
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