About How Does Madame Web Fit Into the Spider-Man and Marvel Movie Universes? What to Know Before Seeing
One “different” sort of superhero film, Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson, is said to be based on the Spider-Man universe.
In it, Johnson, 34, portrays Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in New York City who has clairvoyant skills that enable her to see into the future. Three young ladies are impacted by her unexpected abilities: Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor).
Fans of the Spider-guy films will know Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), a guy dressed in a mask who confronts the gang with additional abilities beyond his capacity to see into the future.
Before, I wasn’t really into comic books. For me, this was a new universe, so Cassie and this film really drew me in,” Johnson said to PEOPLE on Monday at the Los Angeles premiere of the film.
“It’s about female empowerment and women supporting each other and protecting each other and stepping into their own power.”
Madame Web is based on the same-named character from Marvel Comics. According to Marvel.com, the character first appeared in a 1980 comic book as an old medium who Peter Parker encounters and discovers to be a superpowered being.
Her abilities are similarly related to those of Spider-Man and other comic book characters with spider capabilities. The characters that Sweeney, O’Connor, and Merced portray in the film are younger incarnations of those that appear in the books under the names Spider-Woman and Spider-Girl at different times.
The latest film is a part of Sony’s wider Spider-Man-related world, which debuted with Tom Hardy’s Venom in 2018.
Both of those films and Morbius, which comes out in 2022, center on Spider-Man’s neighboring characters in a universe that Sony has created.
Although Spider-Man has not yet made an appearance in any of these films, Madame Web does feature several well-known characters and allusions.
Fans of Spider-Man will identify Adam Scott’s character as Ben Parker, whose death provides the backstory for the hero. Emma Roberts portrays Mary Parker, Peter’s future mother, in the meanwhile.
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The company co-produces Tom Holland’s Spider-Man films with Marvel Studios in addition to the animated Spider-Verse films, which starred Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Madame Web will be out later in 2024, along with a third Venom movie and the impending Kraven the Hunter.
Dakota Johnson and the cast tease a “Different Kind of Superhero Story” in this Madame Web exclusive video.
A number of Madame Web characters also made cameos in Sony’s animated film Across the Spider-Verse, which debuted in 2023, as part of a wider, linked universe of superheroes with superhuman strength.
But in spite of all of these parallels, the new film aims to convey a stand-alone tale.
Entertainment Weekly was informed by director SJ Clarkson that “she’s definitely in a standalone world.” Rather than attempting to make the film into something different, I was able to just have free reign and let it be what it needed to be. The ability to take something and give it a new, hopefully unique perspective was, in a way, a gift.
In the graphic trailer for “Kraven the Hunter,” Aaron Taylor-Johnson joins the Spider-Man universe.
However, former Sony narrative consultant Jeff Gomez recently told Variety that Madame Web may eventually be used by Sony to make connections between the many tales.
He stated, “In the comics, Madame Web connected the Spider-Man characters across multiple universes.” “I would assume that the goal of making that movie was to basically create a superhighway between universes.”
Madame Web’s official synopsis restates the film’s premise as “the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines.”
Dakota Johnson plays Manhattan paramedic Cassandra Webb in the suspenseful thriller. Webb discovers she has the ability to look into the future and knows she can use this knowledge to alter it. When faced with new information about her background, she creates a friendship with three young ladies who, if they can all escape a terrible gift, are destined for great things in life.”
In cinemas currently is Madame Web.