The latest Spider-Man spin-off has finally revealed its first trailer. The movie stars Dakota Johnson as Cassie Webb (aka Madame Web), who is forced to confront revelations about her past, and forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures…if they can all survive a deadly present. The spin-off has a solid cast attached, with Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, and Sydney Sweeney.
Despite a solid cast attached to a source material that has all the potential in the world to be great, the Madame Web trailer just felt…off. The Spider-Man character has been in the comics since the 1980s. This ultimately feels like a misguided attempt at trying to cash in on the hottest franchise in their filmography.
Madame Web Is Ignoring The Crucial Aspects Of Her Character
Madame Web can turn out to be the best Spider-Man spin-off ever made. A bad trailer can come from a great film. However, all the signs point to a film that doesn’t understand its source material. Madame Web’s origin story is that she’s blind and suffers from a neurological condition called myasthenia gravis, leaving her on permanent life support. However, the side effect is that she has psychic abilities.
Cassie is not blind. She doesn’t appear to have the very same condition called myasthenia. In fact, Dakota Johnson doesn’t disappear within the role itself. She doesn’t look any different than her character in 50 Shades of Gray, and the delivery of her dialogue feels uninspired. The origins of Madame Web are pretty wild, and it could’ve been interesting to explore a blind woman who suffers from a terrible disease, but Sony doesn’t see the appeal in that story. Dakota Johnson doesn’t feel like Madame Web. Granted, this wouldn’t be the first time a film has changed the backstory of a comic book character, but there’s nothing about Johnson’s presence that captures the spirit of the Spider-Man heroine.
Madame Web Looks Extremely Bland
Arguably the biggest crime of the trailer is that it comes across as a made-for-TV movie. Madame Web is not an ordinary character, so Sony could’ve had some fun with her stylistically. Unfortunately, it follows the same patterns of Venom and Morbius. Instead of embracing the colorful world that these characters live in, Sony is so focused on trying to connect the dots with Spider-Man that any sort of style must follow the original Sam Raimi films.
It works for Spider-Man because the superhero is a relatively grounded character. Sure, he’s had to deal with names like Doc Ock and Green Goblin, but Sam Raimi’s unique blend of horror helped give these characters an identity that elevates the film. If any Spider-Man spin-off needed to look and feel different stylistically, then it had to be Madame Web. Her powers are not based in reality and her origin story demands the filmmakers to heavily lean on the comic book aesthetic for it to work on the big screen.
But it’s not just the look itself, but the characters look flat. I’ve gone into a discussion about Johnson not disappearing into the role of Cassie Web. But neither do the supporting characters who are an important component of the Spidey-verse. Julia Carpenter, Anya Corazon, and Jessica Drew are alternate versions of Spider-Women. These three have cool backstories. Julia is a single mother and government agent with superior fighting skills. Jessica Drew is a spy trained by the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Instead of tapping into the cool origin stories of these individual characters, Sony opted to lump these four together without any true rhyme or reason. This is supposed to be Madame Web’s personal story, but we’re getting a mini-Avengers of Spider-Women. Sadly, none of these characters have been given the proper development to be simply thrown into one film without any fanfare.
Is Any Of This Going Somewhere?
Will Spider-Man ever show up in these films? Since a young Ben Parker and Mary Parker are cast in the film, the events here are well before Peter Parker even existed. Once again, Spider-Man is a crucial piece to Madame Web’s story. Though her powers aren’t based on the web-slinger, Web is mainly a side character that aids Spider-Man throughout the comics. Perhaps the reason this takes place before Parker is born is because when Peter does finally become Spider-Man, she’ll be the elderly lady from the comics.
Even if that’s the case, these spin-offs don’t feel like they have a purpose. They’re connected to the Spideyverse, but the key component of this franchise is missing. They feel like nothing more than thoughtless cash grabs that are trying to capitalize off the Spider-Man brand. Again, Madame Web can turn out to be great, but the trailer isn’t doing this film any favors.
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