Madame Web is expected to take us back to the Venomverse (Morbiverse?) to explore why there's no Spider-Man in that reality. According to past plot leaks, a pregnant Mary Parker will be hunted by Ezekiel Sims, prompting Cassandra Web and a team of female superheroes to step in and protect her during the early 2000s.
We're hoping the story doesn't culminate with the reveal that the MCU's Peter Parker originated in this reality, though there's a good chance Madame Web will tie into Sony Pictures' wider Spider-Verse plans and even what Marvel Studios is plotting.
During an interview with ComicBook.com, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura confirmed the movie will give its lead character a new origin story.
"[If] you're a Spider-Man fan, you're gonna love the character because you know it from the comic books, which she doesn't really have that big a character in the comic books, we're doing the origin story of Madame Web," he begins. "And so you meet her before she's actually the person that you know in the comic book and you come to understand how she becomes that person."
Bonaventura concluded by saying, "I think that'll be a really fresh new terrain for the fans."
These comments, while intriguing, are also a little disappointing. A number of bad superhero movies have gone down the route of exploring who a character was before they more closely resemble their comic book counterparts - Morbius, anyone? - and it never tends to go particularly well.
After all, does any fan really want to sit through a two-hour movie to only see its leads "suit up" in the final few minutes?
Madame Web features a cast that's led by Dakota Johnson as the title character, with Adam Scott, Emma Roberts, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O'Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, and Zosia Mamet set to join her.
S.J. Clarkson (The Defenders) is directing Madame Web from a screenplay by Morbius scribes Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. As of now, the movie is expected to swing into theaters on February 16, 2024.