Madame Web movie: who is Marvel character, how is she related to Spider-Man, and age in the comics explained

Sony’s latest superhero movie, Madame Web, opened to a wave of brutal reviews, many of which pointed to the relatively unknown main character as one of many weaknesses.

Madame Web has existed in the comics for more than 40 years, but the new Sony film is her first appearance in a mainstream movie. Despite Sony’s best efforts, it looks like Madame Web will be closer to Morbius than Into the Spider-Verse in execution.

However, for those determined to brave the film despite the negative reviews, we have you covered with a guide to the Madame Web character in the comics and how she is different in the movie.

Who is Madame Web?

In the Marvel comics, Cassandra Webb, who becomes the superhero Madame Web, made her first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #210, published in 1980. The character was created by Denny O'Neil and John Romita Jr.

The comic book version of Web is an elderly blind woman who has clairvoyant abilities, meaning that she can see into the future. She first appears as an ally to Spider-Man and features as a supporting character in several Spider-Man comics.

In her comic book storyline Web is eventually killed by Anastasia Kravinoff, the daughter of Kraven the Hunter, but passes her powers on to Julia Carpenter, played by Sydney Sweeney in the Sony movie, who takes on the mantle of Madame Web. 

Is Madame Web related to Spider-Man?

Madame Web is related to Spider-Man in several ways - as well as being an ally of Spidey through her comic appearances, she is also the grandmother of the fourth Spider-Woman, a villain in the Marvel universe who first appeared in the comics in 1999.

Additionally, a character inspired by Madame Web, C. Webster, appears in the 2023 Sony animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

How old is Madame Web in the Marvel comics?

Madame Web’s exact age in the comics is not known, but she is presented as an elderly woman, although as the movie is an origin story, the character would not be quite as old as her majority of comic appearances, but she would still be in her mid 50s at least.

In the 2024 Sony movie, Madame Web is a young woman, played by 34 year old actress Dakota Johnson, leading some comic book fans to complain of ageism due to the change to the character for the film.

Fans also questioned the lack of disability representation in the film - the comic book version of Web was born blind and usually used a wheelchair designed like a giant web. Both of these traits have been erased in the movie.

Is Madame Web part of the MCU?

No, whereas some films featuring Spider-Man including Captain America: Civil War, and the other Tom Holland Spider-Man films, are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Madame Web is part of a different cinematic universe.

Madame Web is the latest instalment in the Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSU), which features various characters from the world of Spider-Man which Sony owns the rights to, including Venom and Morbius.

The Sony Spider-Man films have become increasingly connected with the MCU, such as the crossover in No Way Home which saw Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men join Tom Holland.

The next SSU film in the works is Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the Spidey adversary - it is due in cinemas in August 2024.