So far, Sony’s own shared universe of Spider-Man characters has primarily put the spotlight on some of Peter Parker’s greatest foes — such as the title characters of Venom and its sequel, 2022’s Morbius, or the upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie. However, there is an upcoming Marvel movie that will, instead, focus on someone who we can confidently call an ally of the webslinger and is known as Madame Web.
If this is the first time you are hearing about this upcoming superhero movie or even the first time you have ever heard of its titular character, fear not, as we intend to untangle that web of confusion for you right now. The following are all the most basic facts you need to know about the Madame Web movie — starting with when it is swinging into theaters.
What Is The Madame Web Release Date?
The first superhero movie on the 2024 movie release schedule is Madame Web, which will hit theaters on Wednesday, February 14. It was initially planned for an October 2023 release until Sony pushed Kraven the Hunter into its place before it was delayed again for August 2024.
The Madame Web Trailer Teases A Mysterious, Spider-Like Villain
From what we have learned about the plot of Madame Web, it always seemed safe to assume that Spider-Man would not be making an appearance. Well, the film's trippy first trailer appears to suggest the contrary, but this is certainly not Peter Parker we are dealing with. See for yourself by checking out the clip below:
Through this introduction to Madame Web's version of Ezekiel Sims – whose co-creator, J. Michael Straczynski, noted was different from the character he envisioned – in the teaser's opening moment, we get our first glimpse of Cassandra Webb's soothsaying abilities, which we learn she gained through a near-death experience. Her clairvoyance also leads her to join forces with her younger co-stars as their protector from this costumed killer, who apparently has predictive abilities of his own and -- according to the Internet's favorite line from the trailer -- was in the Amazon with Cassandra's mother "when she was researching spiders right before she died."
Dakota Johnson Leads The Madame Web Cast
This film will mark the live-action debut of many fan-favorite Marvel characters, some of which – including the title role – will be presented in a whole different light from their original depictions in the comics. Let’s take a look at the main Madame Web cast members and who they play, one by one, below:
Dakota Johnson (Cassandra Web)
Dakota Johnson is playing the title role of Madame Web. Considering how the character is most frequently depicted as an elderly woman in the comics, it was pretty easy to figure out that this was a Cassandra Webb origin story following the BAFTA nominee's casting.
Sydney Sweeney (Julia Carpenter)
An August cover story from Variety about Sydney Sweeney confirmed that the Euphoria cast member is playing Julia Carpenter. The actor teased that she hopes her character has a future in the MCU – perhaps as Cassandra's successor, we are guessing, since that is her destiny in the comics.
Isabela Merced (Anya Corazon)
Following her appearances in blockbusters like Transformers: The Last Knight and Dora and the Lost City of Gold (in the title role), Isabela Merced is making her superhero movie debut in Madame Web as Anya Corazon, who is also known as Spider-Girl in the comics. The actor also has an upcoming DC movie in the works, having been added to James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy cast as the DCU’s version of Hawkgirl.
Celeste O’Connor (Mattie Franklin)
One of several well-known versions of Spider-Woman from the comics is Mattie Franklin, who is also one of the main characters of Madame Web. She is portrayed by Celeste O’Connor of the Freaky cast, who is also known from Ghostbusters: Afterlife and director Zach Braff’s A Good Person.
Tahar Rahim (Ezekiel Sims)
The central antagonist of Madame Web, whom Cassandra protects Julia, Anya, and Mattie from, is Ezekiel Sims, who actually works to protect Spider-People like Peter Parker in the comics. He is portrayed by French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim, who earned raves for his performance in The Mauritarian and, more recently, appeared in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon cast as Paul Barras.
Other members of the ensemble include Adam Scott from the Parks and Recreation cast and Severance, who is potentially playing a younger version of Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben alongside Emma Roberts as his sister (and Peter’s mother), Mary. Also part of the cast in additional undisclosed roles are Zosia Mamet from Max's The Flight Attendant and comedian Mike Epps.
Madame Web Follows The Titular Clairvoyant Spider-Man Ally
While obviously not counting the Academy Award-winning animated Multiverse movie masterpiece, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (and its 2023 sequel, Across the Spider-Verse), or the similarly plotted live-action hit, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Madame Web could very well be the most ambitious movie yet with a connection to Peter Parker’s alter ego. I say this for many reasons, including producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura describing it as more of a "thriller" to Collider and, especially, the fascinating backstory of our title character, who was first introduced in Marvel Comics in 1980 and created by Denny O’Neil with John Romita Jr.
She was born as Cassandra Webb, without a sense of sight and, later in life, would lose the use of her muscles due to a rare autoimmune disease. However, her psychic abilities would help her achieve a successful career as a medium and allow her to control a special chair crafted by her husband to improve her health and complete various tasks with its mechanical arms. Her unique wisdom would prove to be especially helpful to Spider-Man on some of his adventures, and Madame Web has also enlisted his help in return on many occasions.
What Is Madame Web Rated?
According to FilmRatings.com, Madame Web is rated PG-13 for violence/action and language.
What Is The Madame Web Runtime?
Madame Web has a leaner runtime than a lot of other comic book movies these days. It comes in at less than two hours, or 117 minutes, to be more precise
S.J. Clarkson Directed Madame Web
Madame Web is being helmed someone who has previous experience working on Marvel Comics adaptations, S.J. Clarkson, who previously directed two episodes of Jessica Jones and another pair of episodes from the formerly Netflix-exclusive series’ crossover spin-off, The Defenders. This is the British filmmaker's second movie, having made her feature-length debut with 2010's Toast, and, outside of her cinematic exploits, directed episodes of U.K.'s Life on Mars, Dexter, Orange is the New Black, and HBO’s Succession, to name just a few.
The screenplay is also in the hands of two people who know a thing or two about Marvel: Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, who wrote the Jared Leto-led vampire thriller, Morbius before taking over for Kerem Sanga as this new movie’s screenwriters. Sazama and Sharpless’ first collaboration was on the script for another vampire movie — 2014’s Dracula Untold — and they would later go on to reimagine two classic sci-fi TV shows by writing the story for 2017’s Power Rangers movie and developing Netflix’s reboot of Lost in Space.
If only we did have clairvoyant abilities like the title hero, we would be able to tell you more about Madame Web. However, we suppose not knowing is part of the fun.
