Madame Web is an upcoming movie in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) and based on everything that’s been revealed, it’s an important entry in the franchise. Madame Web is a superhero in the Spider-Man comic books, and she’s a mutant and clairvoyant, meaning that she has extrasensory powers that allow her to magically attain information about almost anything. The original Madame Web was a blind elderly woman who was connected to a life support system that looked like a spiderweb. Before she was murdered by Ana Kravinoff, she passed her powers down to Julia Carpenter, leading to her becoming the new, modern Madame Web.
Following the critical and commercial disappointment of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a lot of different Spider-Man projects were canceled and left in limbo, including a solo movie focusing on Silver Sable and Black Cat. However, as Sony has built the SSU alongside the studio’s partnership with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, those projects were dropped in favor of a Madame Web movie. And given Madame Web’s powers and ties to the multiverse, it makes a lot more sense and opens up way more possibilities. Madame Web will be set in the same universe as Morbius and the Venom movies, and it’ll follow another SSU movie currently in production.
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Madame Web Latest News
Right now there still isn’t a lot known about the Madame Web movie but some members of the cast have let a few things slip. Emma Roberts revealed some details about her mysterious character in the movie. The identity of Roberts’ character still is unknown but on a recent podcast appearance, she gave a tease by saying, “What I can tell you is I’m not a superhero. Some people may think she’s a superhero but not… like I don’t have supernatural powers. So I can tell you that.”
Madame Web Is Confirmed
The Madame Web movie was first confirmed in 2019 and Sony tapped writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless to write the screenplay (via Collider). Those two penned the script for 2022’s Morbius which is also part of Sony’s shared Spider-Man Universe along with the Venom franchise and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter film. Madame Web didn’t begin filming until July 2022 and star Dakota Johnson confirmed in January 2023 that filming had wrapped (via Coming Soon). It will also be directed by S.J. Clarkson, who has helmed Marvel TV shows like Jessica Jones and The Defenders in the past.
Madame Web Release Date
Madame Web is seemingly repeating Deadpool’s trick of counter-programming over Valentine’s Day weekend, which was what helped the 2016 movie become such a huge success. Madame Web is scheduled for release on February 16, 2024, and while Morbius was a box office bomb, the theatrically released 2024 movie should be a hit, as it doesn’t currently have any competition during its opening weekend. However, the movie was pushed back from its original October 2023 release date since Kraven the Hunter now occupies that space. Kraven the Hunter is another SSU movie, and as it’s being released first, its reception could dictate Madame Web’s performance.
Madame Web Cast
Madame Web has made some interesting casting choices so far, even if it’s still far from clear who the actors are playing. The movie stars Dakota Johnson as the titular character, and while it isn’t confirmed, it’s likely that she’s playing the Julia Carpenter version of Madame Web, as it’d take a lot of makeup to portray the original elderly version of the mutant. Emma Roberts will also star in Madame Web, as well as comedian Mike Epps, Zosia Mamet, and Isabela Merced, but they’re all in undisclosed roles.
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The theories surrounding the cast are what’s most exciting about Madame Web, as both Adam Scott and Tahar Rahim have undisclosed roles in the movie, but it has been theorized they are playing different versions of Spider-Man. Scott was spotted on the Madame Web set wearing clothes similar to what adult Peter Parker has often worn, hinting that he could be one version of a web-slinger. Similarly, on-set Madame Web photographs have revealed Rahim in a superhero outfit that looks a lot like a Spider-Man costume. But given that anything can happen in a multiverse, even a photo of a character in a Spider-Man-looking suit is completely speculative.
Madame Web Plot Details
Madame Web will likely tell Julia Carpenter’s origin story and how she adopts the original Madame Web’s powers. However, it seems as if the upcoming Spider-Man movie has slightly changed Julia Carpenter’s backstory, as footage of an action scene on a bridge reveals that Johnson’s character works for the New York City Fire Department, which has never been Julia’s profession before. Julia worked for the Commission on Superhuman Activities in the comic books, but as that was tied so closely to the Avengers, that may have been hard to work around since Sony doesn’t have the rights to mention the team.
As Madame Web is also closely connected to the Spider-Verse, the movie could tie up loose ends regarding the SSU. And while Spider-Man has been mysteriously absent in the Venom movies and Morbius, there might be an abundance of Spider-Men in the 2024 movie, as Madame Web’s 2000s setting is a potential giveaway. The setting means that it could also be connected to Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire, especially as a set photo has revealed a Spider-Man 2 Easter egg. And Maguire has been vocal about wanting to continue playing Spider-Man following Spider-Man: No Way Home (via Variety), so he could potentially make an appearance.
Madame Web Trailer
There is currently no trailer available for Madame Web which is to be expected considering when the movie releases. It didn’t complete filming until recently so there’s still plenty of work to be done in post-production and it won’t hit theaters until 2024. It is likely that the trailer will debut with the October release of Kraven the Hunter or slightly beforehand.
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How Madame Web Fits In The SSU (& MCU)
Sony has already attempted to cross over the events of the MCU Spider-Man trilogy with the SSU, but it didn’t have much of an impact. The Vulture (Michael Keaton), who was the villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming, returned in a Morbius post-credits scene, and Eddie Brock briefly appeared in the MCU universe, but the logistics and science of it all didn’t make any sense, and it created one giant plot hole. However, Madame Web can fix that. As one of Madame Web’s powers is being able to switch between universes, the 2024 movie could seamlessly tie everything together in a way that makes much more sense.
As Morbius met with Vulture in the Morbius post-credits scene, they spoke about other like-minded villains who might want to “team up,” according to Vulture. That could all be building up to the multiversal events of Madame Web. As Kraven the Hunter releases before Madame Web, there’ll likely be another tease about the supervillain team with Kraven being recruited by Vulture, just as Morbius was. But there are still so many questions surrounding the SSU, and Madame Web has the near-impossible task of succinctly explaining how the SSU’s universe works, paying off all of Morbius’ teases, and introducing a multitude of Spider-Men.
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