- Madame Web could face the challenge of redeeming Sony’s Spider-Man universe after the disappointment of previous films.
- Director SJ Clarkson has revealed that the film is set in “a standalone world” and not part of the Sony Spider-Man Universe.
- Despite owning the rights to Spider-Man for decades, Sony has struggled to capitalize on the character outside of Marvel collaborations.
Madame Web may need to rescue Sony’s Spider-Man franchise when Dakota Johnson stars as the title character this Valentine’s Day. Morbius and two Venom films left fans universally underwhelmed, so the upcoming “Spider-Man without Spider-Man” movies must prove themselves. However, director SJ Clarkson has made it clear that Madame Web is set in “a standalone world,” disappointing fans that were hoping for a connection to Spider-Man.
Despite high hopes, fans have not seen a recognizable web-slinger in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, and Madame Web will not change that, nor connect to previous films in the universe. Clarkson told Entertainment Weekly:
She’s definitely in a standalone world. I was able to just have free rein and let the movie be what it needed to be, as opposed to trying to force it into something else. That was a gift, in a way, to be able to take something and bring a fresh and I hope original take to it.
In addition to Johnson, Madame Web stars Sydney Sweeney as the Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman. Graphic designer BenSolo_Cup previously shared an idea on Instagram of what Madame Web might have looked like if Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire had been involved.
While Sony has owned Spider-Man’s big-screen rights for decades, they have struggled to profit from Marvel’s best-known hero in recent years, aside from collaborations with Marvel Studios on the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy and the acclaimed Spider-verse films. Their last solo Spider-Man film was The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Andrew Garfield, and they have since focused on building a universe of characters who have previously encountered Spider-Man in the comic books. This includes two Venom movies, Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and more. The direction of this story is uncertain, as it could introduce a new or old Spider-Man or even another MCU crossover. However, the interest in these developments will depend on the success of the upcoming films.