Madame Web Stars Credit Their Actual Friendship for Influencing What Was Shown on Sreen

Madame Web‘s three young stars shared how their friendship dynamic shaped their approach to these three heroes. ComicBook.com had the chance to sit down with Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor and Isabela Merced to discuss the dynamic between Julia Carpenter, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon. Our interview highlights the fact that these three Spider-Women are not usually together in the comics. This allowed the actresses to kind of fill in the blanks for themselves. It’s clear that Sweeney, Merced and O’Connor get along, so there’s a clear chemistry between the trio of teenage girls on-screen.

“It was so fun because we just got to build or own dynamic between us. And I think also, our actual friendship really informed what you saw on screen because it was honestly really funny to see me and Bella’s characters have beef,” O’Connor smiled. “And, there’d be tension there. But that was only able ton exist because we had such a good friendship and foundation of kindness between each other. So that we could build off of that in a fun way.”

Merced pointed out, “You know, how it goes in the comics is Julia becomes Madame Web. And through that, she gives me her costume. The mantle of Spider-Girl, like the title. Because originally, I’m just Arana and I got my own kind of exoskeleton-type spider costume. So, it was really cool to see how possible they had to differentiate the costumes because we do technically, at some point in. The comics have the same costume.”

“So, it was cool to see that friendship before all of that happens to us at such a young age. Our suits, if you notice, are inverse. So, they’re the inverse of each other!,” Sweeney pointed out. 

What’s Going On With Madame Web?

Some people might not be aware of that madam web is a bit of an origin story. The film follows Cassandra Webb before she gets her powers and a long time before the young trio get their powers as well. So if you’re going into this thinking there’s going to be a ton of swinging for rooftops or connections to Sony’s animated Spider-Verse, you’re going to be a little bit disappointed.

“It’s really the story of Madame Web,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura explained to 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.”

The Online Response To Madame Web

On the web this week, the takes about Madame Web are inescapable. The reaction has been so loud that it’s impossible to ignore. Comicbook.com‘s Jenna Anderson reviewed the most recent Sony Spider-Man spinoff. In her estimation Madame Web feels like the best and worst part of superhero features from 20 years ago. She argues that a lot of viewers are going to need to adjust their expectations on the way to the theater.

“In a way, it’s simultaneously impossible to imagine a movie like Madame Web existing twenty years ago, and incredibly easy to imagine its end product fitting in amid the experimental era of that time,” she mused. “While that sentiment does not absolve Madame Web of its shortcomings, it turns one of the most unexpected titles to come out of the current superhero boom into a fascinating cultural artifact. Both by design and by accident, Madame Web is a modern-day throwback to the superhero adaptations of yesteryear — with all of the good, bad, and baffling things that entails.”

Did you like the three young Spider-Women from Madame Web? Let us know down in the comments!