Summary

  • Madame Web, a new woman-led superhero film, is set to release on February 14, 2024, making it a rare addition to the current superhero landscape.
  • The movie will serve as an origin story for the clairvoyant Madame Web, who possesses psychic abilities and can see within the spider world.
  • The cast includes Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb/Madame Web, with Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Emma Roberts rumored to play other Spider-powered heroes. The film will be directed by S.J. Clarkson.

In accordance with the Spider-Verse expanding as exponentially as the multiverse, we’re here to witness yet another addition to the ever-growing list. So yes, our very own Spider-Man has a new superhuman friend that’s of the likes of him joining his cinematic universe, but it’s not a man. That’s right, a brand-new woman-led superhero film, which is scarce in today’s age, both DCEU and MCU-wise, is nearing its release date of February 14, 2024. And the fateful chosen heroine is none other than, ready or not, here she comes, Madame Web.

At this point, everyone, even those who aren’t comic book enthusiasts, knows or at least has heard the name Spider-Man, mainly since the character has been famously portrayed throughout the 21st century — three times separately, one time collectively, nostalgically, and epically in Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, the same certainly cannot be said for Madame Web. While Sony has, until now, seemed to adapt only villain-origin stories as part of its Spiderverse, Madame Web is anything but a villain. The development of Madame Web began about four years ago, so a lot of updates have popped up ever since, each one exciting.

Update December 29, 2023: This article has been updated following the trailer for Madame Web ahead of its upcoming 2024 release.

Madame Web: Release Date

Madame Web
Madame Web
PG-13
Release Date
February 14, 2024
Director
S.J. Clarkson
Main Genre
Action
Studio
Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

Madame Web is slated for a US theatrical release on February 14, 2024.

The movie was initially set for release on July 7, 2023, but it was delayed to October 6, 2023. Then, it was delayed to February 16, 2024, before moving up two days to cash in on the Valentine's Day weekend.

Related: How Sony's Madame Web Might Change the Spider-Verse

Madame Web is one of three Sony Pictures movies based around Spider-Man characters coming out in 2024. It will be followed by Kraven the Hunter on August 30, 2024, with Venom 3 following on November 8, 2024.

Madame Web: The Plot

As the first female to have a solo movie in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, Madame Web comes with material that’s beyond fascinating to be developed into a motion picture. Not only is she capable of clairvoyance, or ESP, but she’s also a psychic — nothing like the regular, physically enhanced heroes we’re used to seeing, which makes her story all the more compelling to immerse. Although the first trailer has been released, there’s not much to reveal regarding Madame Web’s plot other than that it’ll serve as an origin story of the clairvoyant, whose psychic abilities allow her to see within the spider world. The first trailer for Madame Web was released on November 15, 2023, and teased a story filled with masked characters and psychics.

Dakota Johnson will play Cassandra Webb—aka Madame Webb—although her age indicates she'll be playing a version before the elderly, blind version many Spider-Man fans know from the comics and cartoons. There, Madame Webb is secured to a life-support system shaped like a spider web, and she works telepathically with Spider-Man to help those in need. The trailer, however, revealed an able-bodied Cassandra is just coming into her psychic powers in what appears to be the early 2000s New York City, where billboards for Beyonce’s debut album and ads for the new 3G speed prevail.

Because of this, fans have speculated she will team with three more female Spider-powered heroes to protect them—and possibly a yet-to-be-born Peter Parker—from Ezekiel Sims, who is trying to change the future. Sharing Cassandra's ability to see the future, Ezekiel is shown being attacked by Julia Carpenter, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin, all dressed in their Spider-Woman/Girl costumes. Dressed in a black and red Spider-Man suit, Ezekiel appears to be hunting the girls, possibly before they get their powers.

The film's producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, told ComicBook.com the movie would lean into the character's mysterious past in the comics to give her a new origin story, saying, "And so you meet her before she's actually the person that you know in the comic book and you come to understand how she becomes that person. So, I think that'll be a really fresh new terrain for the fans.”

Madame Web: The Cast

Sydney Sweeney as Julia Carpenter in Madame Web

Ambiguous plot aside, the cast list of Madame Web has fans buzzing all over the internet. The aforementioned actress selected to play the protagonist, a.k.a the Madame Web herself, is Dakota Johnson. From circulating images prior to the trailer, she was thought to resemble Julia Carpenter, unmistakably dressed in the character’s signature long red coat. However, we now know Julia is played by Euphoria’s Sydney Sweeney, which is fitting since the young actress sported strawberry blonde hair on set. Johnson's character is referred to as "Cassie" by others in the trailer making he Cassandra Webb.

Related: Which Version of Madame Web Will Dakota Johnson be Playing?

Starring alongside Johnson and Sweeney is a fabulous line-up of actors, though their roles are still shrouded in a metaphorical web, leading to the string of fan speculations. Ghostbuster: Afterlife’s Celeste O’Connor and Rosaline’s Isabella Merced are reported to appear as Mattie Franklin, the subsequent Spider-Woman, and Anya Corazon, the eventual Spider-Girl, respectively. Emma Roberts, who shared that she won’t have supernatural powers is rumored to act the part of Mary Parker, Peter Parker’s mother, although nothing is confirmed. Speculated to join the Parker family is Adam Scott as Ben Parker, Peter’s uncle. Tahar Rahim plays Ezekial Sims, while Mike Epps and Zosia Mamet are cast in undisclosed roles.

Everything Else We Know

Madame Web cropped poster showing Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney and Isabela Merced

Sony has hired an experienced group of filmmakers for its very first female-led cinematic piece. S. J. Clarkson, who successfully directed a few episodes of Marvel’s TV series such as The Defenders and Jessica Jones, will rightfully fill the director’s seat of Madame Web. Meanwhile, the script is entrusted to the screenwriting duo who previously wrote a fellow SSU entry, Morbius, Matt Sazama, and Burk Sharpless.

Madame Web first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #210 and was created by writer Denny O'Neil and artist John Romita Jr. For many longtime Marvel Comics fans and Spider-Man fans, Madame Web is a character nobody likely ever suspected to get a movie, but her taking center stage along with being joined by three Spider-Women indicates this is a reworking of an idea former Sony Pictures President Amy Pascal had around 2012/2013 while developing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as a spin-off of that film that would be a female-centered superhero movie.

Madame Web was previously described as the Doctor Strange of Sony's Spider-Man universe, and given the character's connection to the multiverse, there is a possibility that the film might be the connective tissue between the various cinematic incarnations of Spider-Man from Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland, the Sony villain based films and the animated Spider-Verse films to build to an epic crossover. Only time will tell, but Madame Web will be the first superhero movie released in 2024, and after a rough year with high-profile flops in 2023 like The Marvels, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and The Flash, Madame Web now has a lot on its shoulders.