A new report claims that Sony is developing a Madame Web movie, and that Dakota Johnson is in talks to star.
The news comes from Deadline, who say sources that Sony is looking to expand on its Marvel success post-Spider-Man: No Way Home. S.J. Clarkson is apparently attached to direct. She has previously directed episodes of Heroes, Dexter, The Defenders, Jessica Jones, and Succession.
A screenplay has already been written, according to the sources, by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.
First appearing Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man comics, Madame Web (also known as Cassandra Webb) is an elderly woman with myasthenia gravis. She uses a life support system that looks like a spider-web, but her power comes from the fact that she is a precognitive mutant. However, events see her killed and her powers – and blindness – are passed onto Julia Carpenter, a younger woman initially known as the first Spider-Woman. These events see Carpenter take up the mantle and become the second Madame Web.
Sources have stressed to Deadline that the project could turn into something else since the first incarnation of Madame Web never actively fought villains due to her age and condition. However, the film may well be focussed on Julia Carpenter, which would make more sense in the current superhero landscape.
The same sources say that Sony executives have spent a period of time meeting with a number of actors as part of a hunt for a female leading role. Within the last two months, Johnson has become the front-runner and is now apparently in talks to star. The report does not clarify who Johnson is in talks to play, but chances are it could well be Julia Carpenter.
It’s no surprise to learn that Sony wants to double down on its Marvel and Spider-Man efforts; No Way Home has topped the domestic box office for six weeks almost uninterrupted. Apparently big characters were cut from the movie, and so further films in the series could further explore characters that were merely potential beforehand.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.
