Madame Web: Isabela Merced May Be Playing a Spider-Verse Hero

Another Spider-Verse hero may be on the verge of joining Sony's live-action Spider-Man Universe. Sony Pictures is rolling out more and more feature films featuring Spider-Man characters, such as Venom and Morbius for example. An overlooked character set to ger her own movie is Madame Web, with Dakota Johnson playing the clairvoyant with psychic abilities. Madame Web has an all-star list of actors on its cast, including Transformers: The Last Knight and Dora and the Lost City of Gold actress Isabela Merced. While it's unknown who Merced is playing in Madame Web, her casting points to the possibility that Spider-Verse hero Araña, aka Spider-Girl, is getting the live-action treatment.

Created by Joe Quesada, Fiona Avery, and Mark Brooks, Anya Corazon debuted in 2004's Amazing Fantasy #1. She's gone by a few different aliases, such as Araña and Spider-Girl, and has taken on a larger role in the Spider-Man Family of titles in recent years following the original Spider-Verse event series. Marvel's Spider-Man animated series on Disney+ included Spider-Girl as one of its main heroes, alongside Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Gwen Stacy. Anya was voiced by Melanie Minichino in the series.

Not much is known about the plot of Madame Web, but if Sony Pictures decides to use the film to introduce even more heroes into its budding Spider-Man Universe, then it makes all the sense in the world for Isabela Merced to play Araña/Spider-Girl. The actress is used to headlining franchises on her own, so if the studio decided to do an Anya Corazon-centered spinoff, it would have confidence that Merced could handle the responsibilities. 

Plus, it doesn't hurt that Marvel Comics is putting the spotlight on Araña during its upcoming Edge of Spider-Verse limited series. Artist Humberto Ramos designed a new costume for Araña, which can be found in an Edge of Spider-Verse #1 story by writer Alex Segura and artist Caio Majado. Araña also receives a new status quo to go along with the costume upgrade. 

Other stories in Edge of Spider-Verse #1 include Dan Slott and Martin Coccolo introducing Spider-Laird, a new hero from the Scottish Highlands of the 18th Century; the Spider-Woman creative team of Karla Pacheco and Pere Perez reuniting for a prehistoric tale of Spider-Rex; and Dustin Weaver and D.J. Bryant's haunting tale featuring Spider-Man Noir, one of the stars of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by Nicolas Cage.

Would you be excited to see Isabela Merced portray Araña/Spider-Girl in Madame Web? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!