Spider-Woman will have a very busy upcoming couple of months, with the character being part of the long list of Spider-People to appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and now confirmed to be making her official live-action debut in Madam Web, with Sydney Sweeney playing her.
Despite the fact that all the rumors indicated that the Euphoria star would be in charge of giving life to the character in the next Spider-Man spinoff, there has been no official confirmation of what her role would be in the film, which also stars Dakota.Johnson in the title role.
Sweeney herself confirmed that she’s going to be playing Julia Carpenter in the film in an interview with Total Film (via Games Radar):
“I couldn’t be more excited. I can’t wait to be able to talk about it. I can’t wait to be able to be next to the girls that I filmed with – Dakota and Isabela, and Celeste. 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.”
No plot details have been revealed at this time, but thanks to set footage and images it is possible that it takes place in the past and is an origin story for Johnson’s character.
The cast of Madame Web is completed by Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Emma Roberts, Mike Epps, Adam Scott, and Zosia Mamet, many of whom could play different versions of Sweeney’s and Johnson’s characters, since the main fan theories indicate that this is precisely what the movie will be about.
Madame Web will join Venom, Morbius, and Kraven as part of a universe focused on Spider-Man-related villains and antiheroes. It is expected that in the future they will continue to develop stories and not only focus on villains, but also on heroes, such as the El Muerto movie, starring the singer Bad Bunny (Bullet Train).
Cassandra Web, the original version of Madame Web, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #210 in 1980, created by writer Denny O’Neil and artist John Romita. In most comics, she’s an old woman with a serious illness that keeps her connected to a vital system that looks like a spider web.
Who’s Julia Carpenter?
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Created by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck, she first appeared in 1984’s Secret Wars #6 as Spider-Woman, although she has used the names of different characters over the years.
In addition to Spider-Woman, Julia took on the mantle of the second Arachne and later became the second iteration of Madame Web, which would explain her participation in the 2024 film.
Sony Pictures and Amazon Studios recently teamed up to create a shared universe that will also extend to the small screen, and the producers have made it clear that Spider-Woman, as well as Silk and Gwen Stacey will be key characters in the future of the franchise, so it’s likely that Sweeney will have the chance to play the character in more projects in the future.