‘Madame Web’: Release Date, Plot, News, Cast, and More

One of the most anticipated upcoming releases from Sony is Madame Web. Following the successes received by the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, it’s no wonder the studio wants to branch out to more characters from this universe.

As Sony continues to build on its Spider-verse, here’s what we know about the upcoming female-led movie.

The Madame Web Cast

The cast is one of the things many fans are excited about when it comes to Madame Web. Dakota Johnson will be playing the titular character and Sydney Sweeney will be playing Julia Carpenter. Aside from Johnson and Sweeney, the Madame Web cast also includes Isabella Merced, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Zosia Mamet, and Celeste O’Connor. Their roles are still undisclosed.

Johnson told Variety that joining a franchise as huge as the Spider-verse is “a wild experience.” She added, “I don’t think you can be prepped to go into anything like that, but I learned so much.” 

Sweeney told Total Film that she “couldn’t be more excited” and she “can’t wait to be able to talk about the movie.”

“I can’t wait to be able to be next to the girls that I filmed with, Dakota and Isabella, and Celeste,” said Sweeney. “We had so much fun together. And I’m really excited that it’s just gonna be a powerhouse of badass females for the world to see.”

Scott also revealed to Collider that he was surprised to get cast for the movie.

“I actually didn’t think I was gonna work over the summer before we started Severance up again because we started in October, and I wasn’t planning on working at all before then. Then this came up, and I couldn’t resist,” said Scott.

The Creative Team Behind the Film

British director S.J. Clarkson will be at the helm of the movie, marking her feature film debut. Clarkson is known for directing episodes of Succession, Jessica Jones, The Defenders, Heroes, House, and Dexter.

The script is written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless from a draft by Karem Sanga. Leigh Folsom Boyd is attached to the project as the editor, and Maurio Fiore is the cinematographer. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Adam Merims are the movie’s producer and executive producer respectively. Palak Patel serves as the film’s development executive.

Madame Web Plot

Speaking to Collider, Lorenzo di Bonaventura said the upcoming movie will serve as the character’s origin story. Apart from that, we know the upcoming Marvel film is being considered fresh terrain for fans.

“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,” said di Bonaventura.

Madame Web in the Comics

In the comics, the first Madame Web is Cassandra Webb who hails from Salem, Oregon. Cassandra is born blind and suffers from a medical condition called myasthenia gravis, making her very weak. This condition eventually helps her in her mutant abilities. Cassandra is also known for her association with Spider-Woman Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter and helps them out.

The leaked set photos show Johnson wearing Julia Carpenter’s classic costume, apparently inheriting the Madame Web title and its abilities after Cassandra’s death. This change might make sense as Johnson is still in her 30s and the character itself is an older woman. Based on di Bonaventura’s comments, it seems like Johnson will bring a modern take on Cassandra who has yet to become the character she is known to be.

Filming for Madame Web began on July 11, 2022, and wrapped in January this year. Principal photography took place in Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City, including Chinatown and Grand Central Station. The movie also appears to be set in the 2000s, which hints at a prequel to Sony’s Spider-man universe.

How is Madame Web Connected to the Marvel Movies?

While the actual plot for Madame Web remains unknown, there’s a chance the upcoming movie includes teaming up with Spider-Woman. In the upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie starring Aaron Taylor Johnson, the character has a connection to both the original Madame Web and Julia Carpenter. It’s likely that the storylines of both movies could connect to each other at some point.

Connecting both storylines also paves the way for a larger-scale Spider-verse movie. This could also mean there’s a version of Kraven in the Spider-verse who is connected to Spider-man himself.

With most of the stars attached to the project in undisclosed roles, fans are already speculating which characters they may be. Merced is speculated to be playing Anya Corazon, O’Connor to play Mattie Franklin, and Roberts and Scott may be playing Mary and Ben Parker. If correct, then Madame Web may be a prequel story or a multiversal one, as Julia Carpenter, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin are all Spider-women.

Emma Roberts also shared what it was like filming the movie. She said, “It’s obviously such an amazing cast and it’s such a unique take on a Marvel movie. So I’m really excited for people to see it because I think it’s going to be very unexpected, how they tell the story,” said the actress.

Madame Web Release Date

Madame Web is originally slated to premiere on July 7 this year then pushed back to October 6. But Sony pushed the film’s premiere back even more to give it a release date of February 14, 2024. And that is still the dated listed on IMDB Pro.

It’s safe to say that Sony is trying to bank on Valentine’s weekend much like other genre films like Deadpool (2016) and Black Panther (2018). Even then, it isn’t certain if the February 14 release date is the final date. The current SAG-AFTRA strike is resulting in some studios pushing their fall 2023 releases into 2024. So there’s potential that Madame Web‘s release date could move as well.

In case you miss out on watching Madame Web in theaters, the movie might be on Netflix later that year. Sony has a deal with Netflix that its releases would be on the streaming platform.

It remains unclear when a trailer for the movie will drop. For now, fans can watch and rewatch the previous Spider-related installments like the recent Spider-man: Across the Spiderverse and anticipate the other Marvel releases like Kraven the Hunter and El Muerto.