Madame Web: What Would Sony’s Latest Spider-Man Spinoff Have?
It can be quite tough to parse Sony Picture’s strategy for their shared universe of Spider-Man movies. The “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe” kick-started with 2018’s Venom and is all set to further expand with upcoming solo films like Madame Web and Morbius. At the end of the day, a shared Spider-Man universe with barely a single trace of the Spidey himself.
The most recent announcement that 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson will be starring in the upcoming Madame Web may have some Marvel fans scratching their heads again. Why is Dakota Johnson playing a character that’s depicted as merely a frail, elderly mystic, and the bigger question, why does Madame Web of all characters need her own movie in the first place? To answer those questions, let’s have a look at the history of the character in the Spider-Man comics and why the Madame Web film probably will not be what fans are expecting.
Who Is Madame Web?
The original Madame Web was Cassandra Webb, who is a mutant with extremely strong telepathic abilities. She can also read minds, can even project her consciousness through the astral plane, and can even have the ability of the future. Unlike Professor X, Madame Webb’s psychic powers are in total contrast to her physical disabilities. Webb also suffers from a neurodegenerative disease known as myasthenia gravis, which left her blind and tethered to a life support system, resembling a spider web.
Madame Web made her debut in the 1980s The Amazing Spider-Man #210. Over the past few years, she has played a supporting role in a few Spider-Man stories, mostly lending Peter Parker a helping hand about his future.
Is Madame Web Setting a Spider-Verse Film?
With many iconic villains and heroes in the Spider-Man franchise, one may wonder why Madame Web is given the priority treatment by Sony Pictures. This decision makes a lot of sense when you are considering the Julia Carpenter version of Madame Web is a significant figure in 2014’s Spider-Verse crossover.
Spider-Verse brings a lot of versions of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman from across the multiverse. They are made to fight the Inheritors, a family of vampires who fed on heroes like Spider-Man – characters who are connected to mystical energies. Madame Web is the first one to sense this threat to the Web of Life, and she takes proper action to save the entire multiverse.
With Spider-Man: No Way Home becoming the highest-grossing Sony film to date, it makes sense that the studio will be continuing to bet big on the Spider-Verse in the years to follow. A Madame Web film may look like a strange choice currently, but it may well be a vital part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
