Madame Web: Spider-Man Spinoff Ending Explained

After years of being in the works, Sony's Madame Web finally arrived in theaters this week. The new film takes a distinct approach to the Marvel Comics mythos, introducing a few of the lesser-known Spider-Verse heroines to the big screen. There has already been a lot of conversation surrounding Madame Web, from its ensemble cast to its 2000s setting to its already-infamous lines of dialogue. But one component of Madame Web that fans might not have been prepared for was its ending, which brought the story of its four heroines to an interesting peak.

If you need help understanding everything that happened in Madame Web's finale, we're here to help. Obviously, spoilers for Madame Web lurk below! Only look if you want to know! 

How Does Madame Web End?

Madame Web follows the origin story of Cassandra "Cassie" Webb (Dakota Johnson), a paramedic in New York City who accidentally discovers she has superpowers after a near-death experience. Through her psychic visions, Cassie learns that three teenage girls she has crossed paths with — Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor) — are all being targeted by a man with Spider powers of his own. The culprit ends up being Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), who has had visions of Julia, Anya, and Mattie all killing him a decade later as superheroes.

Cassie travels to the Amazon jungle to learn more about her powers, leaving the girls with her coworker, Ben Parker (Adam Scott) and his pregnant sister-in-law, Mary Parker (Emma Roberts). She returns to New York just as the girls are helping Mary to the hospital to help deliver her baby — which brings out Sims to attack them again. Cassie, Julia, Anya, and Mattie draw Sims to an abandoned explosives factory and fight him off, ultimately being cornered on the roof of the building. As Julia, Anya, and Mattie are all in immediate danger, Cassie is able to tap into her powers and be in multiple places at the same time, helping save all three girls at the same time. Sims then dies in the ensuing scuffle, and Cassie falls into the nearby river and is believed to be dead too — until Julia swims to rescue her. Using the CPR skills that Cassie taught them earlier in the movie, the girls help revive Cassie, who is now blind.

Mary gives birth to her baby (who comic fans know is none other than Peter Parker), while Cassie also nurses back to health in the hospital, embracing the three girls as her new immediate family. In the film's final sequence, Cassie and the girls have moved into a massive loft apartment overlooking the city. Cassie, who is now permanently blind and in a wheelchair, has such strong powers that she can see the girls' actions before they even make them. She tells Julia, Anya, and Mattie about the great futures they have ahead, as we see various scenes of them fighting bad guys in the future as Spider-Women. We then see all three of them, as well as Cassie in a suit and suspended in a psychic bubble, watching over the city.

What Is Madame Web About?

In Madame Web, Cassandra "Cassie" Webb (Dakota Johnson) is forced to confront her past while trying to survive with three young women with powerful futures who are being hunted by a deadly adversary. In addition to Johnson, Madame Web will also star Sydney Sweeney as Julia Cornwall / Spider-Woman, Isabela Merced as Anya Corazon / Spider-Woman, and Celeste O'Connor as Mattie Franklin / Spider-Woman. The film will also star Tahar Rahim as Ezekiel Sims, with Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and Zosia Mamet cast in currently-unknown roles.

"It's really the story of Madame Web," producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura previously told ComicBook.com. "So, in that respect, if you're a Spider-Man fan, you're gonna love the character because you know it from the comic books, which she doesn't really have that big a character in the comic books, we're doing the origin story of Madame Web. 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."

What do you think of the ending of Madame Web? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Madame Web is now playing exclusively in theaters.