Origins: Madame Web Swings To The Big Screen
From Hugh of @hughv302
On February 14th, the newest film of Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) releases in theaters and follows the story of Cassandra Web aka Madame Web, a clairvoyant and precognitive mutant who is considered one of the most unique allies to the web slinging superhero, Spider-Man and even some of his variants across the multiverse. But who is Madame Web? Why is there a film being made about her? Find out more below!
Origin
As with most comic book characters there are multiple origins, identities, incarnations and adaptations of certain characters across comics and various media. For this overview we will be looking at the main variant of the character that the film is attempting to adapt in its own way. Cassandra Webb was born in Salem, Oregon, without typical sight and a neurological condition known as myasthenia gravis, Cassandra Webb grows up to learn that she possesses powerful psychic abilities, and establishes herself as a medium. Using these powers, Madame Web discovers Peter Parker’s secret identity when Spider-Man rescues one of her students, Belinda Bell, is kidnapped during a scam at the Daily Globe newspaper where she impersonated reclusive publisher K.J. Clayton. From that point on she would continue to help Spider-Man protect others from all his various villains of his rogues gallery using her abilities to assist his missions and prevent disastrous events from falling upon him. But Peter Parker would not be the only spider person she meets and helps since she would end up forming a connection to the multiverse and meet many variants including some of the Spider-Women like Jessica Drew, Mattie Franklin and Julia Carpenter. Julia Carpenter would eventually become the new Madame Web after Cassandra passed on her abilities to her prior to her sudden death at the hands of members of the Kravinoff family in a later story arc.
Powers & Weaknesses
Madame Web possesses psychic abilities including telepathy, clairvoyance, and prescience. She can also perform astral projection and appear to others in spirit form. Madame Web is cybernetically linked to a spider web-like support system to attend to her bodily needs. The system can shift upright or recline, and provides robotic arms to substitute for her arms. Additionally, Madame Web has a gifted intellect. Due to her neurological condition she is made to be entirely dependent on external life support for survival serving as a major weakness for her in comics until she was cured of it in later comic stories.
What to expect?
The Madame Web film is reportedly set to be a complete stand alone from both the MCU and the other SSU films and while the story is adapting certain characters and plot lines associated with Madame Web from comics it seems to be mostly an original story with new elements never revealed in comics. While the film version of Cassandra Web seems to have the same powers of clairvoyance as her counterpart the rest of her powers as well as her neurological condition that causes her to be blind and paralyzed all appear to be completely absent at this time. There also seems to be no evidence of her meeting with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man but instead with three Spider-Women: Anya Corazon, Mattie Franklin and Julia Cornwall (assumed to be Carpenter). With so many drastic changes it is currently impossible to determine what will exactly occur with her in the film outside of defending the three Spider-Women from a Spider-Man like killer named Ezekiel Sims. We will only find out more once the film releases on February 14th, 2024.
