Spider-Verse: Madame Web Movie in the Works at Sony

Madame Web is coming to the big screen… or at least getting a feature film script. According to Collider, Sony Pictures has hired Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (Morbius) to pen a Madame Web movie set in the Spider-Man universe.

Madame Web first appeared in Marvel Comics in November 1980, in The Amazing Spider-Man #210. Written by Denny O’Neil with art by John Romita Jr., the issue sees Spider-Man seek the help of Cassandra Webb, aka Madame Web, and her clairvoyant, precognitive powers in finding kidnapped Daily Globe published K.J. Clayton. 

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Cassandra Webb is traditionally depicted as an older woman (though there have been younger incarnations of the character) with myasthenia gravis, a long-term neuromuscular disease that requires Webb be connected to a life support system that looks like a spider web (hence the moniker). Webb is also the grandmother of the fourth Spider-Woman, Charlotte Witter. (#spinoff) In addition to her comic book origins, the Madame Web character has appeared in the Spider-Man animated series, as well as multiple Spider-Man video games.

In addition to the upcoming superhero vampire flick Morbius, Sazema and Sharpless have written several films together, including Dracula Untold, The Last Witch Hunter, and Gods of Egypt. They also wrote on the first season of Netflix’s Lost in Space reboot series. So… yay?

It is unclear, at this point, what a Madame Web movie could mean for the future of Sony’s live action Spider-Man verse, but it certainly signifies… a direction. While I may be ambivalent about the writers brought on for this project, I am excited to see what plans Sony has for expanding Spidey’s storytelling world, especially if they don’t manage to work thing out with Disney to keep Spidey in the MCU.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.