Madame Web Movie Can Give Sony A Bigger Multiverse Story Than No Way Home

Dakota Johnson is in talks to become Sony’s Madame Web – and the film could be a bigger multiversal adventure than Spider-Man: No Way Home. Sony Pictures has long wanted to produce a female-led Spider-Man spinoff – so much so that, in 2014, leaked emails revealed they’d even considered an ill-advised Aunt May movie. These spinoffs fell through back in 2014, but they’ve now become a reality, with two Venom movies proving box office hits. Most viewers had assumed the first female-led spinoff in the current range would involve Spider-Gwen or Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman, but curiously it seems the studio’s priority is a Madame Web film – one that could prove more important to their multiverse than most realize.

The Madame Web movie has been in the works for over two years now, with Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless hired to pen the script. Jessica Jones director S.J. Clarkson was brought on board in early 2020, and news has been sparse since then – until reports over the last few days that Dakota Johnson is in talks to play Madame Web. Apparently, Sony has been meeting with various A-list actresses over the last few months, and Johnson had become the frontrunner by the end of December 2021. This would be Johnson’s first foray into the superhero genre, and her first blockbuster franchise since the success of 50 Shades of Grey.

The news has left a lot of viewers rather puzzled about the direction of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, because Madame Web lacks the brand recognition of Spider-Woman – or even Spider-Gwen, who’s become bigger than ever after Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. However, that confusion is perhaps rooted in a failure to understand the story Sony is trying to tell. Not only may she be a natural addition to this spinoff universe – she could open up a tremendous number of storytelling possibilities.

Marvel’s Madame Web Explained

Precious little is actually known about Sony’s Madame Web film – including just which character it stars. The most well-known Madame Web, who even appeared in the classic ’90s Spider-Man animated series, is Cassandra Webb: a woman who was born blind and suffering from myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in her skeletal muscles. Although physically frail, she was bound to a cosmic force known as the Web of Life and Destiny, allowing her to sense the past, present, and future. She’s often focused on events around the so-called “Spider Totems,” beings like Peter Parker who are themselves tied to the Web of Life and Destiny, and she’s frequently served as a mentor figure to Spider-Man. This character was created by Dennis O’Neil and John Romita, Jr. back in 1980, and she was even voiced by Stan Lee’s wife Joan Lee in the animated series. Naturally, this is the iteration of Madame Web who’s being discussed the most.

Granted, there is, in fact, another Madame Web. More recently, Cassandra Webb was killed by Kraven the Hunter – and a Kraven movie is also in development by Sony, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing the starring role. The role Madame Web plays in the Web of Life and Destiny is one that must be occupied, and so the mantle was passed on to another, Julia Carpenter, one of the women who had once served as Spider-Woman. In truth, it’s far more likely Sony is looking for someone to play Julia Carpenter, given Dakota Johnson is visually a good match for that character. The studio could even tell a version of the story in which Julia Carpenter first became Madame Web, giving viewers a look at the experience of being transformed into a powerful precog. If they take this approach, they could well choose to take the same focus as recent comics, which have stressed Julia Carpenter’s relationship with the Web of Life and Destiny – and the multiverse.

The Web of Life & Destiny Can Be Key To Sony’s Spider-Man Universe

A Madame Web film makes a lot more sense given the multiversal direction Sony is likely to take their spinoffs after Spider-Man: No Way Home. While all attention is focused on the MCU, where the multiversal adventures will continue in Doctor Strange: No Way Home, this also signaled a potential change in direction for the Venom franchise, with Venom now possessing knowledge of the multiverse. Meanwhile, there are rumors Sony is interested in using Spider-Man: No Way Home as the launchpad for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, bringing back Andrew Garfield once again – ironic given Sony’s deal with Marvel, which led to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man appearing in the MCU in the first place, was a result of the failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Of course, Sony is pushing ahead with their animated films exploring the multiverse – with a stunning trailer recently released for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Part One). The multiverse is clearly key to the future of Sony’s Spider-Man spinoffs – and the Web of Life and Destiny could well lie at the heart of it.

In the comics, the Web of Life and Destiny serves as the connective tissue holding the entire multiverse together, as it literally holds the past, present, and future in place to prevent multiversal collapse. Madame Web is far more than just a precog: her mind traverses the Web of Life and Destiny, allowing her to perceive all that is, was, will be, and even could be (Spider-Man’s spider-sense operates in the same way, incidentally, meaning it is far more than just the “Peter tingle” the MCU has made it out to be). Because Madame Web is linked so profoundly to this multiversal force, she can perceive other planes of existence and understand the way events in different dimensions ripple on into one another. She is intuitively aware of every branch of the timelines. Indeed, in the Spider-Man animated series Cassandra Webb’s powers were amplified to allow her to create portals between the dimensions. Although Julia Carpenter’s Madame Web hasn’t shown this ability in the comics, her connection to the multiverse seems just as pronounced, if not more so.

It’s interesting to note that the recent trailer for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Part One) showed artistic designs of the multiverse similar to the Web of Life and Destiny in the comics and animated shows such as Spectacular Spider-Man. This has led to theories Miles Morales will be stranded in another universe, setting up a part two in which he must find his way home. It’s surely no coincidence that one of Sony’s Spider-Man spinoffs is riffing on the Web of Life and Destiny at precisely the moment the studio begins working on a live-action film whose star is intimately connected to it in the comics. That raises the possibility Madame Web is the most important of the Spider-Man spinoffs to date, fleshing out Sony’s interpretation of the multiverse and setting up adventures that make Spider-Man: No Way Home look like nothing more than a prologue. If that is indeed the case, it’s no wonder Sony is prioritizing a Madame Web solo movie.

About The Author

Thomas Bacon
(4906 Articles Published)

Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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