Madame Web is a 2024 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character. It is the fourth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Dakota Johnson stars as the title character, alongside Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O'Connor, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, and Adam Scott. The film was directed by S. J. Clarkson from a screenplay she wrote with Claire Parker alongside the writing team of Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The film depicts the origin story of Cassie Webb (Johnson), who confronts her past while trying to save three young women (Sweeney, Merced, O'Connor) from Ezekiel Sims (Rahim), who wants to kill them before they become Spider-Women in the future and kill him. Lorenzo di Bonaventura produced the film for Columbia Pictures.
Sony Pictures began developing a Madame Web film for its shared universe by September 2019, with Sazama and Sharpless writing the script. Clarkson joined as the director in May 2020, in her feature film directorial debut, and Johnson was cast in early 2022. Further castings occurred in the following months, particularly for the Spider-Women characters. Filming began in mid-July 2022 and concluded before the end of the year, taking place throughout Massachusetts, New York City, and Mexico. Clarkson and Parker's involvement as writers was revealed in November 2023. Johan Söderqvist, a frequent collaborator of Clarkson, composed the film's score. The film features a 2003 setting and was described by the crew as a thriller film.
Madame Web premiered at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles, on February 12, 2024, and was released in the United States two days later by Sony Pictures Releasing. Critics panned it as one of the worst films ever made, and its quality drew sustained media attention and widespread mockery. It was also a box-office bomb, grossing $100.5 million worldwide against a net production budget of $80 million, and won three Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actress (for Johnson), and Worst Screenplay.
Plot
In 1973, a research team in the Amazon rainforest in Peru led by a pregnant Constance Webb discovers an unidentified spider species with rare healing properties. Ezekiel Sims, the man Constance hired for protection and security, betrays the team and claims the spider for himself, shooting Constance in a struggle and leaving her to die before fleeing with the spider. An indigenous tribe attempts to save Constance by having one of the spiders bite her. However, she dies shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Cassandra.
Thirty years later, Cassandra, who goes by "Cassie", works as a paramedic in New York City alongside her co-workers Ben Parker and O'Neil. During a dangerous call, she falls into the water and has a near-death experience. Ben revives Cassie, but she begins to experience visions. Initially, she dismisses them as déjà vu, but after failing to prevent O'Neil's death, she realizes she can see into the future. Ezekiel, who has limited precognition power and enhanced physical abilities, collects information on three teenage girls: Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazón, and Mattie Franklin. His visions lead him to believe that they are destined to kill him. Cassie is also drawn to the girls and intervenes to stop Ezekiel from ambushing them at Grand Central Terminal. She steals a taxi and takes the girls out of the city to hide them in a nearby forest.
Cassie returns to her apartment and finds her mother's notes, which tell of Ezekiel's identity and the true nature of his powers. Ignoring Cassie's instructions, the girls go to a diner where he finds them. After briefly incapacitating Ezekiel by ramming him with the taxi, Cassie takes the girls back to Queens, and they take refuge at Ben's. Cassie flies to Peru and tracks down Santiago, the tribal chief who had tried to save her mother. He puts her through a ritual that separates her soul from her body. She experiences a higher plane of consciousness in which all living things are connected, and every possible future can be seen. Cassie learns that her mother sought the spider not for fame or money, as she had initially believed, but to save Cassie from being born with myasthenia gravis, which the bite wound up curing. Santiago tells Cassie that accepting her responsibility can unlock her true power. Ben's pregnant sister-in-law Mary goes into labor earlier than expected, so he takes her to the hospital with the girls, who are seen on camera in the car. Ezekiel intercepts them again, but Cassie rescues the girls in an ambulance and distracts him long enough for Ben and Mary to get to the hospital.
The group lures Ezekiel to a condemned fireworks factory and sets up traps to disorient him while Cassie calls for a medical evacuation helicopter to fly to their location. He destroys it and separates the girls, then taunts her with Constance's death. Cassie uses her powers to guide the girls to safety, then lures Ezekiel into the final trap, which fatally crushes him. An ignited firework strikes Cassie in the face, severely injuring her. The girls save her, and she is taken to the hospital just as Mary gives birth to her son. Cassie wakes up to discover that she is now blind and paraplegic due to her injuries. However, her clairvoyance enables her to see the future more clearly. She assures the girls that she will mentor them in their future roles when the time comes.
Cast
Dakota Johnson as Cassandra "Cassie" Webb:A paramedic in Manhattan who, after an accident, develops psychic abilities as a clairvoyant which allow her to see future events within the "spider world", and is a reluctant hero. Not yet known as Madame Web, Cassie is depicted as an inexperienced clairvoyant in her 30s learning her new powers, in contrast to the comic book version, which first depicts the character as an elderly "fully fledged" clairvoyant, who is blind, paralyzed, and connected to a life support system. Johnson and director S. J. Clarkson sought to differentiate the film's portrayal from this version while embracing the character traits from the comics. Johnson felt Cassie's wit, humor, and abrasiveness were balanced with her compassion, particularly through her forming a "sort of family" with the three young women after not getting along through the film's events. which stemmed from Cassie being on an "unending, insatiable quest" to save people after she was unable to save her mother. She was interested in playing a female character whose superpowers stem from her mind, and by the prospect of seeing into the future while understanding the character's past and present, while Clarkson was inspired by the psychological and cerebral aspects of the character, with Cassie questioning her sanity which she battles within herself and attempts to understand. Clarkson called Cassie a loner and described her as somewhat abrasive, quirky, and "on the outer edges of things", which she compared to the title character of the Marvel Television series Jessica Jones (2015–2019). Sydney Sweeney as Julia Cornwall:An awkward teenage girl who lives with her father and stepmother following her mother's departure. She is hunted by Ezekiel for being a future Spider-Woman and one of those responsible for his death. Future visions of her show that she possesses similar powers to Spider-Man, as well as psionic webbing. Isabela Merced as Anya Corazón:An intelligent teenage girl forced to live alone after her father's deportation. She is also hunted by Ezekiel for being one of the three future Spider-Women responsible for his death. Future visions of her show that she possesses similar powers to Spider-Man, and has throwing disks that can come back to her. Celeste O'Connor as Mattie Franklin:A teenage girl from a wealthy family, but with absent parents. She is one of the three future Spider-Women hunted by Ezekiel. Future visions of her show that she possesses similar powers to Spider-Man, and has Iron Spider-like arms as part of her suit. Tahar Rahim as Ezekiel Sims:A former explorer who searched for a secret tribe in the Amazon rainforest in Peru alongside a research team with Cassie's mother, whom he betrays. He gained their enhanced strength and health abilities through a powerful spider, as well as clairvoyance which allows him to see visions of his future death, making him obsessively search for his killers. This leads him to hunt three young women who have the potential to become Spider-Women in the future. Clarkson said the character was not afraid to be intense and had a "level of ambiguity" with multiple layers. He can inject a neurotoxin into those he touches, and has powers and a black and red suit similar to those of Spider-Man. Mike Epps as O'Neil: Cassie and Ben's co-worker and friend. Emma Roberts as Mary Parker: Ben Parker's pregnant sister-in-law. Adam Scott as Ben Parker: Cassie's paramedic partner and friend. Kerry Bishé as Constance Webb: Cassie's late mother and a scientist whose work researching spiders brought her to the Amazon in 1973 in hopes of healing Cassie's muscular disorder. Zosia Mamet as Amaria: a gifted hacker and Ezekiel's research assistant. José María Yazpik as Santiago: the chief of Las Arañas, a secret tribe from the Peruvian jungle with spider-based abilities.
Jill Hennessy also appears as a National Security Agency agent seduced and killed by Ezekiel, while an uncredited infant portrays Mary's son Peter Parker, whose birth is depicted in the film.
Production Development
After their work on the Marvel Comics–based film Morbius (2022), part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), Sony Pictures hired Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless in September 2019 to write a script centered on the Marvel character Madame Web. Sony's executive vice president Palak Patel was overseeing the project. Kerem Sanga had previously written a draft for the film. In May 2020, S. J. Clarkson was hired to develop and direct Sony's first female-centric Marvel film, which was reported to be Madame Web. The studio was looking to attach a prominent actress such as Charlize Theron or Amy Adams to the project, before hiring a new writer to further develop the film with her in mind. After meeting with several "A-listers" for the title role, Sony narrowed their shortlist during December 2021 and January 2022. Dakota Johnson became the frontrunner by the end of 2021 and was in talks to star as Madame Web by early February. Clarkson was confirmed to be directing Madame Web at that time.
Sydney Sweeney joined the cast in March 2022, alongside Johnson. Justin Kroll of Deadline Hollywood described the project as Sony's version of the Marvel Studios film Doctor Strange (2016) due to Madame Web's comic book abilities, although he noted that the film could be departing from the source material since the comics version of Madame Web is an elderly woman, named Cassandra Webb, connected to a life-support system that looks like a spider web. Kroll noted because of this that the film reportedly could "turn into something else". Grant Hermanns of Screen Rant noted speculation on whether Johnson was playing Cassandra Webb or the younger Julia Carpenter, who was the second character in the comics to be known as Madame Web. A month later, Sony gave Madame Web a release date of July 7, 2023, and confirmed Johnson and Sweeney would star in the film.
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura described the film as a thriller and called the titular character's clairvoyance a "tricky skill set" that was not likely to be used for an action film, with Sweeney believing this approach would differentiate the film from audiences's expectations of other superhero films. Di Bonaventura explained that Sony decided not to reveal many details about the film ahead of its release because the Madame Web character was not well known to general audiences.
Pre-production