Isabela Merced Didn't Tell DC About Madame Web Prior to Hawkgirl Casting (Exclusive)

Isabela Merced kept her role in the Marvel movie Madame Web a secret from DC after she was also cast as Hawkgirl. The young actor has already amassed an impressive resume of films, including the leading role of Dora the Explorer in Dora and the Lost City of Gold and a co-starring role in Transformers: The Last Knight. Two of her upcoming films put her in superhero attire for competing companies, Marvel Studios and DC Studios. Merced suits up as Anya Corazon in Madame Web, and next year sees her dawn Hawkgirl's wings in Superman: Legacy. While playing in both the Marvel and DC Universes is becoming more common, Merced still found a way to keep her Madame Web role from DC.

ComicBook.com spoke to Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O'Connor, and Isabela Merced to talk about Madame Web, which arrives in theaters this week. When asked if Madame Web helped prepare her to play Hawkgirl for DC, Isabela Merced responded, "Oh absolutely. And I was like, 'Is it possible to do both?' I know people have, but why would I be able to do it? So I just didn't tell them about Madame Web."

She continued, "They asked, 'Oh, do you have any previous stunt training?' And I said, 'Yeah, but I don't remember where I did it. I was in a harness too, I don't know where."

Madame Web doesn't cross over with other Spider-Man movies

Director SJ Clarkson (Marvel's Jessica Jones) has described the 2003-set Madame Web as taking place in a "standalone world" unattached from the Spider-Man movies, including the multiversal Web of Life and Destiny seen in the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

"We made a decision early on that the advantage in this story was not to attach it to all these other stories," producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told ComicBook.com. "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." 

"And so we felt it was a stronger choice for us to say, 'This is Madame Web's story,'" Di Bonaventura continued. "She comes out of the Spider-Man comic books, but it's not part of this other giant thing. It is its own standalone, which gave the freedom to really tell the character story."

Who is in the Madame Web cast?

Madame Web features Dakota Johnson as the titular Madame Web, Sydney Sweeney as Julia Carpenter / Spider-Woman, Isabela Merced as Anya Corazon / Spider-Woman, and Celeste O'Connor as Mattie Franklin / Spider-Woman. Madame Web's cast also includes Tahar Rahim as Ezekiel Sims, with Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and Zosia Mamet in undisclosed roles.

Madame Web swings into theaters on February 14th.