Despite releasing three critically panned Marvel-based superhero movies, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (or the SSMU for short) is going full steam ahead with the planned 2024 premiere of Madame Webb. And the part of Julia Carpenter aka Spiderwoman is going to none other than twice Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria).
Sydney Sweeney Weaves Madame Webb
Sweeney recently spoke about the upcoming superhero movie when she was featured in a Variety cover story. During the interview, the actress described her process of preparing for a role and admitted she was overwhelmed with excitement about being cast in such a high-profile movie.
I went straight to the comic store, and I bought every comic that mentioned my character.
It’s no secret that critics haven’t been particularly kind to superhero films in the past few years. Madame Webb’s predecessor, Morbius, received a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 15%, while the two Venom movies didn’t fare much better with ranks of 30% and 57%, respectively.
So far, Sony’s venture into Marvel comics adaptations are not what we’d call stellar. But Sweeney is optimistic about Madame Webb turning things around. When asked about the upcoming film set to premiere in February 2024, she said:
I think it’s different from what people expect a superhero movie to be.
Stellar Cast Teases Excitement
Sweeney will star in the movie alongside Dakota Johnson (The Lost Daughter), who plays the titular clairvoyant mutant from the Marvel comics. Also cast are big named celebrities such as Emma Roberts (American Horror Story), Adam Scott (American Horror Story), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian), Celeste O’Connor (A Good Person), Isabela Merced (Transformers: The Last Knight).
The premise for the upcoming Madame Webb is still being kept tightly under wraps, but the film will probably follow the title character’s origin story. In the comics, Julia Carpenter becomes the second Spider-Woman. She takes on the mantle from Jessica Drew, who only just made her first cinematic appearance in this year’s hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and was voiced by Issa Rae (Barbie).
While the star-studded film was announced in 2019, it suffered several production delays. So far, it changed premiere dates twice. It was initially meant to come out this summer and then moved to October of 2023. Let’s hope nothing moves forward with the February 2024 date.
Madame Webb is scheduled to premiere in IMAX in the U.S. on February 14, 2024.
