Dakota Johnson plays clairvoyant paramedic Cassandra Webb in Madame Web. S.J. Clarkson directs the fourth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), which also stars Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, and Adam Scott.
The official Madame Web description reads: “In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the stand-alone origin story of one of Marvel publishing's most enigmatic heroines. The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures… if they can all survive a deadly present.”
In the trailer, Cassandra Webb sees disturbing visions of the future. According to Variety, Cassandra “meets and forges a partnership with a trio of young women — including Sweeney’s Julia Carpenter, who later takes on the mantle of Spider-Woman in the comics.” In the official credits, both Sweeney and O'Connor are credited by their characters' names — Julia Carpenter and Mattie Franklin, respectively — as well as “Spider-Woman,” while Johnson is credited as “Cassandra Webb/Madame Web.”
The Sony Spider-Man Universe Includes ‘Madame Web' and Three Other Films
Despite its title, the Sony Spider-Man Universe doesn't officially include actual Spider-Man movies starring Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, or Tom Holland. Instead, the SSU encompasses all the Spider-Man spin-off films, or movies that are Spider-Man adjacent. The three SSU movies preceding Madame Web include Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius. Madame Web also has the distinction of being Sony's first female-led comic book adaptation.
In a 2022 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Johnson spoke about joining the larger Marvel universe. According to ET, Madame Web is typically depicted in comics as an elderly woman kept alive by a life-support contraption that resembles a giant spider web. As one can see from the new trailer, Sony decided to go in a different direction. “It's pretty cool to be in the Marvel world, especially with a character that's not so known,” said Johnson. “There's a lot of space for us to make her very cool, and I'm so excited. It's always been a dream of mine to do some kind of massive action movie. I always wanted to do, like, a female Indiana Jones. There's something about those movies that you're like, ‘Wow, a real human being can do that!'”
Madame Web spins into theaters on February 14, 2024.