Madame Web Director Addresses Lack of Spider-Man Connections (Exclusive)

Madame Web released in theaters over the Valentine’s Day weekend, giving Marvel fans the latest installment from Sony’s branch of the franchise. Though the franchise is touted as Sony’s Universe of Spider-Man Characters, the saga is yet to include the wallcrawler outside of Venom: Let There Be Carnage‘s post-credits scene. While Madame Web continued the trend of not featuring Spider-Man on screen, it had plenty of references to the character and others who are directly tied to him. In Phase Zero‘s latest Spotlight episode, Madame Web director S.J. Clarkson opened up about not using Peter Parker or Miles Morales in the film. 

Spoilers for Madame Web follow! Throughout Madame Web, Adam Scott’s Ben Parker (also known as Uncle Ben) and Emma Roberts’ Mary Parker (also known as Peter Parker’s mother in Marvel Comics lore) are staples in the film’s story, meaning characters directly tied to Peter Parker are present throughout. Madame Web goes as far as teasing the audience with Mary Parker’s child’s name, getting to the “P” in one instance before a balloon bursts to stop the full name from being said. 

“Well, first of all, I don’t think we ever say the name,” Madame Web’s director said on Phase Zero. “I’m just saying, but if we’re going to be like we’re going to lay it out, I don’t think we say the name. I would definitely say that Madame Web is in a universe of her own.”

Joking after the response and getting questioned about Spider-Man in countless interviews, Clarkson joked, “There’s a reason for the gray hair,” with a smile. “There’s a reason for the gray hair!”

Madame Web producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura opened up further about Spider-Man not appearing in the film with Cassandra Web, Julia Cornwall, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon. “We made a decision early on that the advantage in this story was not to attach it to all these other stories,” di Bonaventura told ComicBook. “We tip the hat. But really, we wanted to concentrate on a character journey, and I think some of the superhero fatigue that people talk about is because those movies are often not about the central character.” 

Should Madame Web and its cast return for another film, Celeste O’Connor is eager to have a crossover with Miles Morales. Longtime Spider-Man movie producer Amy Pascal, however, sees Miles’ live-action debut as a fairly distant future. 

It is unclear is Spider-Man will appear in future films featuring the character’s villains from comics like the upcoming third Venom movie, Kraven the Hunter, or El Muerto. Phase Zero‘s full Spotlight episode with Madame Web director S.J. Clarkson is available on all major podcast platforms and the official Phase Zero channel. Madame Web is now playing in theaters.