‘Madame Web’: Dakota Johnson Frontrunner For Sony’s Spider-Man Spinoff

This has the feeling of inevitability around it. Dakota Johnson is on an incredible roll right now, following her performance in The Lost Daughter, and pair of Sundance films in Am I Ok? and Cha Cha Real Smooth. The Fifty Shades star has yet to feature in her first superhero movie, though, but that might be about to change as Deadline reports she is in talks to star in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff, Madame Web.

Johnson would take on the lead role of Madame Web, who in the comics is an elderly clairvoyant with myasthenia gravis attached to a life support system that resembles a spider web. She usually meddles in the affairs of Marvel’s various Spider-people, using them to take care of her affairs.

Interestingly, the trade says the film could “turn into something else” due to the character’s isolation and inability to fight villains. Could this perhaps turn into a Silver Sable or Black Cat project, instead? A more likely option is they use the Julia Carpenter version of the character. Carpenter was formerly Spider-Woman and is more than capable of action scenes, plus she’s considerably younger.

SJ Clarkson (The Defenders) is on board to direct from a script by Morbius writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.