Here's Why Madame Web Didn't Really Introduce the Spider-Women (Exclusive)
Director S.J. Clarkson breaks down the film's flash-forward sequences.
Madame Web made its debut in theaters this week, ushering in a new corner of Sony's Spider-Man Universe. The live-action film brings together a number of Marvel's Spider-Man-adjacent heroines, including multiple incarnations of Spider-Woman — Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor). Madame Web teases the future that Julia, Anya, and Mattie have in store, complete with a look at their comic-accurate costumes, but does not significantly explore their own origin stories as superheroes. In a recent Spotlight episode of ComicBook.com's Phase Zero podcast, releasing Monday on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Madame Web director S.J. Clarkson addressed that story decision, arguing that the film was too preoccupied with establishing the origin of Cassandra "Cassie" Webb / Madame Web (Dakota Johnson).
"Well, I thought it would be a bit greedy to do four origin stories," Clarkson explained. "That's not really fair, is it? I've got to share it. Come on. I mean, first and foremost, it's Madame Web, right? But I hope the exciting thing about it is, this is a tease. And I think the origin story of the girls, we're given, hopefully, a hint of the spirit of who they are. We've tried to stick to the spirit from the comic books, and draw from that and find out who they are and get a little bit of their sass and a little bit of their character coming through. But that's a lot of story to tell, I think, in one [movie]. And I think it wouldn't do any of them justice to try and sort of crowbar or cram it all into one movie. So I think it's Madame Web's, and here's kind of the development of something else underneath it. But yeah, I thought that was probably too greedy. They'd be like, 'Get out.' You've already done [Jessica Jones]. Now Madame Web, and now all of them? No, give someone else a chance."
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 also stars 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."
Madame Web is now playing exclusively in theaters. As mentioned above, the full Phase Zero Spotlight interview with Clarkson will be available on Monday on YouTube and all major podcast platforms