Everyone's favorite web-slinging hero Spider-Man has seen a lot of success as part of the MCU. The hero's last big-screen adventure, Spider-Man: No Way Home, was a massive hit in 2021, with many saying it's the best Spider-Man film to date. Not only did it exceed fan's expectations, but it opened the door to many possibilities as it was the first film to connect to other hero franchises. Every other universe with the famous wall-crawler was seamlessly connected to the MCU until Marvel Studios began expanding its colossal portfolio of universes and characters even further with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and, more recently, The Marvels — inviting in characters such as The X-Men, previously owned by other studios.

Alongside this spectacular chaos in the MCU, Sony is also continuing to expand its hero universe with Venom, Kraven the Hunter, Morbius, and perhaps most significantly, Madame Web. The Marvel character has been someone rumored to be making her way to the big screen for a while now, but it is no longer just speculation. Sony's upcoming project starring Dakota Johnson cast as the leading character recently dropped its first trailer, confirming which version of the character Johnson will play. On top of that, Sydney Sweeney's mysterious role was also revealed. For many, the question remains: who is Madame Web, and what effect will she have across Sony's Marvel universe?

Update December 10, 2023: This article has been updated following the release of the trailer for Madame Web.

Is Madame Web a Hero or a Villain?

The only people to wear the spider on their chests and be considered villains typically tend to be individuals with symbiotes, such as Venom. Madame Web is both a hero and advisor, depending on which story she's in. More accurately, whichever stories "they" are in. There have been two people to don the name of Madame Web, much like most comic heroes.

The original was an elderly blind mutant named Cassandra Webb. Suffering from a chronic neuromuscular disease, she found herself confined to a life support system resembling a spider's web built by her late husband. With the use of clairvoyant telepathy, she would aid Spider-Man in a way almost similar to Charles Xavier of the X-Men. Fascinated with the Madame Web name and character, Marvel wanted more stories focused on her, but saw the difficulties of focusing narratives on a woman bound to a chair.

With this in mind, they gave Cassandra back her youth and sight, cured her of her ailments, and gave her immortality when she was caught in a Green Goblin-led ritual. Able to do more than ever, she joined the crime-fighting scene while also continuing to mentor the third Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin. Webb's immortality and youth would not last long, however.

Following a devastating event that saw 98% of the world's mutants lose their powers, Cassandra would lose her youth and immortality and would later be killed helping Spider-Man and Julia Carpenter, the second Spider-Woman, while facing off against the family of Kraven The Hunter (but not before transferring her powers to Julia). Unfortunately, the transfer also cost Julia her sight. There was a lot of speculation about whether Dakota Johnson would play Cassandra Webb or Julia Carpenter — the only two Madame Webs — until the trailer confirmed she would be playing a younger version of Cassandra and Sydney Sweeney would play Julia.

Does Madame Web Have Powers?

Along with telepathy, Madame Web has other abilities, such as clairvoyance and precognition, and she can astral project to appear to others across space and time. But what is possibly her most powerful attribute is her connection to something called the Web of Life and Destiny. It's a mysterious force that reaches across the past, present, and future and across all universes. It's essentially a force that holds the entire multiverse together. This sounds huge, and it is, especially in the current path of the MCU.

Related: Explained: Who is Kraven the Hunter?

What makes the Web interesting is that it holds all heroes with the powers of Spider-Man together. It's the root of their power, in the comics at least. Because of the Web, Madame Web became aware of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, and it's what allows her to be an ally and teacher of sorts before her untimely death at the hands of Kraven. Before gaining the powers of Madame Web, Julia was only another web-slinger like Peter. Still, based on the scope of the Web of Life and Destiny, it would seem that the transference of power from Cassandra skyrocketed Julia to one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe.

Is She Connected to Tom Holland's Spider-Man?

Based on the mere concept of the Web of Life and Destiny, and given that the MCU has interacted with the two Sony Spider-Man universes, it's safe to say that it is very likely that Madame Web could be connected to Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Some reports claim that Dakota Johnson's coming portrayal is already being looked at as the Doctor Strange of Sony's ever-growing universe. If the concept of the Web is, in fact, introduced into the Madame Web film, and it's kept comic book accurate, then there would be nothing that keeps her from contacting Holland's Peter if she feels she needs to.

However, some fans have deduced the upcoming film's plot after dissecting the recent trailer, and they are convinced a young Cassie, new to her powers, will assemble a team of young Spider-Women in order to protect Peter Parker as a baby. These Spider-Women are Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon. If this theory is true, it's doubtful we will see new scenes with Holland unless Cassandra sees his future or learns to connect with him across time.

Rumors have circulated that Adam Scott will play a young Ben Parker, Peter's uncle, and Emma Roberts could play Mary Parker, Peter's pregnant mother, although that hasn't been confirmed. What the trailer does show is Cassie (played by Johnson) explaining that her life recently changed when she became able to see the future. She then attempts to protect a group of young women from a rogue and black-adorned Spider-Man, believed to be Ezekiel Sims, who, in one scene, kills Cassie before she reverts to the present, illustrating she saw her death in a vision.

Since Johnson isn't elderly, it's obvious she is playing a younger, sighted version of Cassandra Webb. The trailer also seems to hint the events of the movie happen in the past, maybe in the early 2000's as later moments in the trailer show the three heroes of Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon, fighting an older Ezekiel Sims. This could imply that comic book fans will see the more traditional Madame Web depiction later (or earlier) in the film, setting Madame Web up for a future role in other Spider-Man projects.

Spider-Women

With Dakota Johnson confirmed as Madame Web, let's do a quick breakdown of the other heroes present in the trailer as it appears Madame Web will be not just an origin story for the titular character, but a whole group of Spider-themed superheroes.

Sydney Sweeny, known for her role on Euphoria and will also be the star in Sony's upcoming rom-com Anyone but You is confirmed to be playing Julia Carpenter, who in the comics was the second Spider-Woman and eventually the second Madame Web. She debuted in the Secret Wars comic series Marvel, published in 1984, and her black costume was the original inspiration for the black Spider-Man suit Peter Parker got that would later be retconned into becoming Venom.

Related: Spider-Man: Why Gwen Stacy Should be the Next Love Interest for Tom Holland's Peter Parker

Celeste O'Connor, who played Lucky Domingo in 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, is playing Mattie Franklin, another character to don the Spider-Woman persona in the comics. The was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #441 in November 1998 and was the niece of Peter Parker's boss, J. Jonah Jameson. Her design for the movie also invoked the design of the Electric Company version of Spider-Woman, named Valerie, and was the first Black Spider-Woman (this would partially inspire Jessica Drew in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse).

Isabela Merced, best known for playing Dora in Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Izabella in Transformers: The Last Knight, is playing Anya Corazon. She was introduced in Amazing Fantasy #1 in 2004. She gains her powers through magic from a spider tattoo. Interestingly, Merced is also set to play Hakwgirl in James Gunn's new film Superman: Legacy, meaning she could be a major hero in two cinematic universes.

Madame Web Could Be The Key To Sony's Universe

Sony has created its own universe of interconnected films based around Spider-Man villains. Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius have already been released, with Madame Web, soon to be followed by Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3. Five of these six movies are focused on Spider-Man villains, and there appears to be no webbed superhero to protect this universe. Madame Web and her team of web warriors like Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon could be the major heroes of this universe.

The trailer features a line that has now become infamously mocked: "He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died." The line reading by Johnson and the clunkiness of the dialog has been named similar to the awkward Vulture dialogue at the end of Morbius. Yet it might hint at an interesting key to Sony's films.

The trailer for Kraven the Hunter notably featured a scene of spiders, and that movie revealed he got his powers from an encounter with a lion. Combine that with Morbius getting powers from bats and the inclusion of Rhino in the Kraven the Hunter trailer, it appears the various characters of this Sony Spider-Man Universe gain their abilities through mystical factors and connections to animals. This could be the Web of Life and Destiny that connects all these various characters together.

Sony could be building up to a massive crossover event. Venom, Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, and others could unite as a Sinister Six-type team, with Madame Web and the other Spider-Women heroes being the heroes that battle them. Madame Web herself could become a Nick Fury figure, assembling a team of heroes to protect their universe and eventually looking out into the Marvel multiverse to find a Spider-Man.

Madame Web opens in theaters on February 14, 2024.