The first trailer for Madame Web confirmed that Julia Cornwall, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon will all don superhero costumes in the movie. It was a welcome surprise for fans and, for the most part, the response to them was overwhelmingly positive.
However, it usually doesn't take long to hone in on potentially divisive changes (the lack of the "DD" logo on the Man Without Fear's new MCU costume, for example). In the case of Madame Web, that was the missing lenses in Spider-Woman's mask.
Sydney Sweeney plays Julia and the Anyone But You star looks phenomenal in the costume. Still, we know the change to the hero's mask has bugged many of you, so we made sure to ask director SJ Clarkson what the deal was when we recently spoke to her.
"Oh, really? Interesting," the filmmaker responds in the video below when we pointed out what a widely discussed topic the mask has become. "We looked at it in…it’s so funny because, as a comic book nerd if I can call you that, you’ll know there are often different iterations throughout the comics. So, obviously there have been different iterations of Madame Web and many artists’ take on all the characters."
"They change and evolve so I guess what we did is really paid attention and looked across the board at all of them and then found the design we thought worked best. And what also worked for our actors as well."
"It’s about honouring and homaging the comics because they’re the foundation from which we all lead," Clarkson adds. "We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have these amazing comics and brilliant writers and illustrators who bring it to life. We used that as our foundation and tried to enhance it and bring it to life for the cinema."
There's plenty of fan art on social media showing Sweeney's Spider-Woman with the white lenses and while they look pretty cool, so does the mask design in this movie (ultimately, we're guessing Sony didn't want to cover too much of the actor's face given her ever-increasing star power).
Some thought clearly went into the change, anyway, and in our interview, Clarkson also talks about the work which went into dreaming up the rest of Madame Web's costume. You can watch that now or check back here next week for the full transcription!
Meanwhile, in another universe...In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing's most enigmatic heroines.
The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures...if they can all survive a deadly present.
Madame Web arrives in cinemas on February 14.