Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Madame Web’
Madame Webis now on Netflix, and the end result of the film is…rather unique, to say the least. It’s arriving at a time when the superhero genre isn’t the dominant force in the movie industry. It’s being compared to theprevious Spider-Man-less Spider-Man movie,Morbius(which is ironic, given that both movies share a pair of screenwriters inMatt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.)
Madame Web’s story centers on the origin story of psychic Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) and her efforts to protect a trio of teenage girls from the murderous Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim). What follows plays out less like a stereotypical superhero origin and more of a thriller movie, due to Cassandra’s psychic abilities letting her stay one step ahead of Ezekiel.How does this game of cat and mouse (or rather, spider and fly) end?
Madame Web
Cassandra Webb is a New York City paramedic who starts to show signs of clairvoyance. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she must protect three young women from a mysterious adversary who wants them dead.
Cassandra Learns To Control Her Powers by Making Peace With Her Past
Like most characters in the superhero genre, Cassandra gains her powers via a seemingly life-threatening accident:she nearly drowns and gains the ability to see the future. It’s via this ability that she sees Julia Carpenter (Sydney Sweeney), Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor) - who have all been targeted for death by Ezekiel. But Cassandra has her own connections to the trio: she lives in the same apartment complex as Anya, she nearly ran over Mattie, and she saved Julia’s stepmother.
Cassandra soon learns that her late mother Constance (Kerry Bishé) had hired Ezekiel for an expedition in Peru in the 1970s, where legends aboutLos Aranas- a tribe of men with arachnid-like abilities - were commonplace. She then travels to Peru and meets one of theLos Aranas, who urges her to use her powers to scan time and space.Cassandra soon learns that her mother was there to save her life;she was born with a rare disease in childbirth, and her mother thought the toxin of a rare Peruvian spider could save her. Ezekiel, seeking the power of the spider for his own, took it and killed her mother, which led toLos Aranasusing the spider’s venom to save Cassandra’s life. Cassandra also learnsthat she can use her psychic abilities to be in multiple places at once, which allows her to save the girls in a pivotal moment.
’Madame Web’s Villain Is Done In by the Web of Fate
ThroughoutMadame Web, Ezekiel relentlessly stalks Cassandra and her companions - utilizing his vast wealth and a network of security cameras to do so. It’s revealed thatEzekiel has the same visions as Cassandradue to years of using the spider toxin. In one of his visions,Anya, Julia, and Mattie have gained superpowersand will be responsible for his death. He seeks to prevent this by any means possible.
‘Madame Web’ Review: Dakota Johnson Gets Trapped in Her Own ‘Morbius’
Sony’s ‘Madame Web’ is an utterly tedious slog of a movie drained of fun visuals and, most pressingly, any sense of tangible humanity.
Eventually, Ezekiel tracks the quartet to a Pepsi factory - but Cassandra, now fully in control of her visions, has laid an explosive trap for him. As the factory burns down around them, Cassandra tells Ezekiel, “The girls were never your end. I was.“The final explosion sends Ezekiel plummeting to his death, where he’s crushed by debris. Ironically, by seeking to prevent his death, he ended up causing it.
Spider-Man Does Appear in ‘Madame Web’ - Just Not How You’d Expect
One of the ongoing criticisms of Sony’s Marvel films is that they’ve only focused on Spider-Man’s lesser-known allies and enemies (withVenombeing the sole exception).Madame Weboddly rectifies this,as Cassandra’s paramedic partner is none other than Ben Parker -Peter Parker’s uncle, whose death is the catalyst for Peter becoming Spider-Man. In contrast to the fountain of wisdom he is in the comics, Ben (portrayed byAdam Scott) is more laid back but still willing to help others.
Cassandra also encounters Peter’s mother Mary (Emma Roberts), who is pregnant with the soon-to-be web-slinger. When Mary goes into labor near the end of the film, Ben takes her, Anya, Julia, and Mattie to the hospital - which sets Ezekiel on their tail. Once Cassandra rams an ambulance into Ezekiel, Ben is able to get May the help she needs, andshe gives birth to Peter. Ben even apparently makes a joke about how being an uncle “is all the fun of a dad with none of the responsibility.” Spider-Man fans won’t help but laugh at the irony of that statement.
Cassandra Grows Closer to Her Comics Counterpart
The final fight with Ezekiel takes its toll on Cassandra, as she too is struck by debris and once again ends up nearly drowning to death. This time, Anya, Julia, and Mattie are able to save her life. But Cassandrahas been rendered blind and needs a wheelchair to get around- a nod to how her comic book counterpart required machinery to keep her alive. Despite this, Cassandra can still see the future, and it’s one where she teaches the new trio of Spider-Women how to use their great power responsibly.
Madame Webis now available on Netflix in the U.S.
Watch on Netflix
