Does anyone remember how, during Euphoria’s Season 2 filming, MCU fan-favorite and Zendaya’s boyfriend Tom Holland kept joking that he wanted to cameo in the show? Well, it turns out if Tom can’t guest star on Euphoria, Euphoria might just come to him instead — and to the Madame Web Marvel movie.
Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney, best known for her turn as Cassie Howard on the beloved HBO show, was recently cast in the upcoming superhero film, according to Deadline. She’ll be acting alongside star Dakota Johnson, who is playing the titular character. After the worldwide box office success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which grossed over a billion dollars as of February, it looks like Sony is planning to expand the Spideyverse beyond Peter Parker.
No shame if you’ve never heard of Madame Web before — she hasn’t even been mentioned in any of the Spider-Man movies thus far. Whether you’ve read all the Spider-Man comics or are only here for Sydney Sweeney, fear not: We’ve got all the Madame Web details that have been announced so far, so you won’t miss a thing.
The cast includes big names, like Dakota Johnson.
We’ve already hinted at this, but the cast — even though we barely know who’s in this movie yet — is already stacked. Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson is set to play Madame Web herself, and Sydney Sweeney has also been announced as part of the cast. That’s all we know so far, but we’ll keep you posted if any other names are brought into the conversation.
The film marks a turning point for Sony’s Spider-verse.
Notably, this role makes Dakota the first female superhero in Sony’s Spider-verse, according to Collider. You might remember all the Sony-Marvel drama around Spider-Man: Marvel struck a deal with Sony in 2000 that allowed them to make Spider-Man movies… only to eventually run into problems when they wanted to bring the webslinger into the MCU a decade later. This was why it took so long for Peter Parker to join the MCU, and why both Tobey Maguire’s and Andrew Garfield’s versions took place in separate universes.
Sony and Marvel are still in collaboration, but with this new film, Sony’s branching out to include their own spinoffs and heroes that presumably don’t join the MCU heroes like Hulk, Falcon, or Winter Soldier. The good news is, then, you probably won’t have to watch every single MCU film in chronological order to understand what’s happening in this one.
Gen Z fave Sydney Sweeney might be playing a beloved hero.
While there’s no official word yet on which role Sydney is taking on, some fans are already betting on her being Spider-Gwen, according to Screen Rant. On screen, Emma Stone was the first Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man movies of the early 2010s, though we unfortunately never got to see her suit up — on that version of Earth, Gwen is Peter’s girlfriend and a regular, though brilliant, girl. In the comics, however, Marvel has expanded the multiverse to include one Earth where Gwen get bitten by a radioactive spider and develops her own spider-like powers, becoming Spider-Woman, or Spider-Gwen. Hollywood’s most recent take on Spider-Gwen happened in 2018’s animated film Into The Spider-Verse, where Hawkeye star Hailee Steinfeld voiced the character. Needless to say, if Sydney really is going to play Spider-Gwen, she’s in great company.
Madame Web’s plot is still under wraps, but the comics provide some hints.
Okay, okay, so who even is Madame Web, and why should you care? Well, for that, we’re going to have to take a look at Marvel’s comics from the ’80s. According to Nerdist, her first appearance in a Marvel property was in 1981 — though there’s an important distinction to be made here, because there’s actually two Madame Webs: Cassandra Webb, an elderly woman, and Julia Carpenter, a younger woman also known as the second Spider-Woman and “Arachne.” Most people seem to be predicting that Dakota will be playing the latter, since she’s not an old lady, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Madame Web has psychic abilities similar to that of a medium, which allow her to realize Spider-Man’s true identity. There’s also a plotline in the comics in which the original Madame Web (Cassandra) gathers together a team of Spider-Women, and even one where she joins a ritual with Spider-verse villain Norman Osborn to gain immortality and youth. Only time will tell where Sony decides to go with this movie, but there’s plenty of opportunities to bring in exciting new heroes and challenges for Spider-Man.
There’s no trailer or release date for Madame Web just yet.
The movie is still in its earliest stages — production hasn’t even started yet, so you’re going to have to wait a while until we get to see Madame Web in action. Cosmopolitan predicts a 2024 or 2025 release date, which sounds super far away, but hey! 2024 is also when Euphoria Season 3 will most likely drop, so now you have two things to look forward to watching.