Madame Web will soon arrive in cinemas across the world (16 February, 2024), and Dakota Johnson’s clairvoyant heroine could actually become a notable supporting player in the future of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
Holland’s Web-Slinger was last seen in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which bridged the gateways of the multiverse to bring Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men together against villains from the latter two’s respective universes. In the end, Holland’s Peter #1 is forced to make a heartbreaking sacrifice by having Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) cast a spell to make the world forget the existence of Peter Parker in order to prevent the MCU from being overrun by villains from other universes. While this has left Holland’s Spidey at a very lonely crossroads leading into the MCU’s Spider-Man 4, Madame Webb – as both a movie and a character – could offer some insight into how he navigates his solitary future.
Madame Web will introduce Dakota Johnson’s Cassandra Web as a paramedic who develops powers of clairvoyance, but this just scratches the surface of the full scope of Madame Web’s true powers. In addition to her telepathic abilities, Madame Web also serves as a multiversal intermediary and guide to Wall-Crawlers of different universes. The 1990’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, in particular, portrayed Madame Web as an interdimensional entity eventually assembling a team of Spideys led by the show’s Peter Parker together. Madame Web’s poster tagline of “Her web connect them all” could very well be alluding to Madame Web’s role in guiding every Web-Slinger throughout the Spider-Verse. More importantly, this could also hint to the connection she could have to Tom Holland’s Spidey.
The full impact of Doctor Strange’s amnesia spell has still only been explained in a general way of Peter Parker being forgotten by the world while Spider-Man remains a known entity, but even with Strange’s vast powers of sorcery, it isn’t impossible to a handful of specific characters might not have been affected by it. Madame Webb is a prime example of someone who would not have had her memory of Peter Parker erased by Strange’s spell. Not only does Cassandra Web exist in a different universe from the MCU, her clairvoyance connects her mind to the Spider-People of every universe in a way that would override the effectiveness of Strange’s spell. Meaning that Madame Web would be able to retain her memory of the identity of every Spider-Person in every universe, including the MCU’s Peter Parker.
In turn, this could make Madame Web herself a potentially important character in the MCU’s Spider-Man 4, as she would be one of the few individuals left who know that Peter Parker exists at all, let alone that he’s Spider-Man. With Peter continuing his life as a superhero while trying to get his personal life back in order again, Madame Web could drop in to lend Peter a hand in managing his new status quo in Spider-Man 4, with her telepathic powers enabling her to see what potential futures would either help or hurt the young hero. Madame Web could also potentially point the way as to whether Peter should restore the erased memories of M.J. (Zendaya) and Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), which Peter ultimately decided against going through with at the end of No Way Home.
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In making such an epic sacrifice at the end of No Way Home – right after the death of Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May and before he’s even graduated from high school, no less – Peter Parker will face an unfathomable level of loneliness and isolation in Spider-Man 4, so every friend he can find will be of immense support to him. A team-up with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil would be fantastic pay-off to Cox’s cameo in No Way Home, but even a really good lawyer like Matt Murdock can only help Peter so much when even he has forgotten who Peter is. Madame Web will not be at that kind of disadvantage, and with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse having already shown how many Web-Heads co-exist in the multiverse, Madame Web could be just the ally Tom Holland’s Peter Parker needs most.
Madame Web will be released in cinemas on 26 February 2024.
