Madame Web might be the next Marvel character to appear in one of Sony’s Spider-Man spin-offs. That’s according to new rumors that detail plans for the unannounced movie, including the name of the actress playing the lead character.
The development isn’t surprising. Spider-Man: No Way Home gave Sony and Marvel what they needed to move forward with their respective cinematic universes. The final episode in this MCU Spider-Man trilogy wasn’t just about the money, although the nearly $1.8 billion in ticket sales is direct proof that the big bet on Spider-Man is working.
As a result, we’ll see plenty of other Spider-Man characters in upcoming SSU and MCU movies. And some of those superheroes might transition between the two worlds.
Mind you, some No Way Home and MCU spoilers might follow below for those who aren’t up to date with the Marvel movies.
The multiverse is critical for Spider-Man success
Having Madame Web show up in future Marvel stories is a direct result of No Way Home’s success. The movie is a multiverse event that Sony needed even more than Marvel. Sony has achieved something tremendous by having Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield suit up as Spider-Man variants in the same MCU movie.
The movie successfully hitched the entire SSU to the MCU. That includes the Raimi and Webb Spider-Man movies. That’s an incredible evolution for Sony, as it allows the studio to play in the same multiverse where popular MCU characters reside.
This makes the SSU a lot more appealing to fans. All of a sudden, there’s the promise of having more movies like Venom and Morbius connect to the MCU in some way. And No Way Home does give us a taste of Tom Hardy’s Venom, as the symbiote was magically transported to the MCU.
The multiverse angle is also very important for Marvel, as it’ll let the studio do something similar to Sony. Marvel can hook the non-Marvel stories into the MCU. The list includes all the Fox movies featuring the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool. But also the Netflix shows that stared various Marvel characters. Daredevil (Charlie Cox) is one of them and he already appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Marvel plans to adapt the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool for the MCU. And we’re expecting a soft reboot for Daredevil.
It’s against this backdrop that the Madame Web Spider-Man spin-off rumors make a lot of sense.
The Madame Web movie rumor
Sony and Marvel have already confirmed they’re working on Spider-Man 4, with Tom Holland expected to star in the next trilogy. But each studio will tell plenty of other stories that do not have to feature Peter Parker at all, even if they include Spider-Man-connected characters. One example might be a Madame Web standalone project.
It was Deadline that dropped the news a few days ago. Apparently, Sony has been casting the Madame Web character for a movie of the same name. S.J. Clarkson is set to direct the pic, according to the report.
Reports of actors in talks to play superheroes are common in a world where superhero movies happen regularly. Therefore, nobody should be surprised to hear that Sony wants to bring even more Spider-Man characters to the big screen via standalone projects. But the studio has yet to make any announcements about a Madame Web movie.
That said, Dakota Johnson did react to the rumors that she might be playing Madame Web in a standalone movie. As you can see above, she tagged both Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios on Instagram while referencing the Deadline report.
Why Marvel?
Johnson tagging Sony and Marvel is still not enough to confirm the actress will play Madame Web. But what’s interesting here is that she called Marvel out. It’s unclear how involved Marvel might be in future Sony Spider-Man spin-offs like a Madame Web movie. But if any of Sony’s characters are to appear in Spider-Man movies that are part of the MCU, Marvel will have a say in everything.
Not to mention that the character is a mutant in the comics. And when it comes to mutants, it’s Marvel that will tell those stories via the upcoming X-Men reboot. Marvel now owns the rights to all of the X-Men following its Fox acquisition.
That’s just speculation for now. But it’s certainly interesting to hear that Sony is looking forward to expanding its Spider-Man universe.
Madam Web rumors aside, we’ll remind you that the next Spider-Man spin-off hits theaters soon. That’s Morbius, set to premiere on April 1st.
