Madame Web puts the spotlight not only on its title character, but three future superheroes in Julia Cornwall, Mattie Franklin, and Anya Corazon. Attempting to stop them from ever fulfilling their destiny is Ezekiel Sims, the movie's big bad and a true force to be reckoned with.
Tahar Rahim plays the villain who, in the comics, actually started as a heroic figure. He first entered Peter Parker's life when JMS and John Romita Jr. relaunched Amazing Spider-Man, revealing that he knew Spider-Man's secret identity while showing off an identical set of superpowers.
Ultimately, Ezekiel - who became a mentor to the web-slinger - showed his true colours and, briefly, betrayed Peter. Realising the error of his ways, Sims sacrificed himself to save his friend and hasn't been seen since.
Earlier this month, we caught up with Tahar and wondered if, in another corner of the Multiverse, he'd like to return to the role for a meeting with Spidey.
"[Laughs] That would be cool but I think it's a question to ask the studio," he responded. "Who knows what the future holds?" When we asked if he'd like to fight one of the live-action wall-crawlers, he simply responded, "Why not?"
During the course of our conversation (which you can watch in the player above), we also asked Tahar whether he and Madame Web director SJ Clarkson discussed Ezekiel's backstory and why he so desperately wants the spider that Cassie Webb's mom is in the Amazon researching.
"I mean, we talked about it," the actor confirmed. "The fact that he struggled when he was a kid and his family might have died and he didn't want to be in this situation again. As this is the first time we see the character on screen, it had to fit with a specific story and hero, Madame Web, we created our own."
We'll be sharing our review of Madame Web next week along with full transcriptions of this interview and our chat with Clarkson. Are you excited to see Ezekiel in action?
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.