Madame Webattempts to tie the endlessly overstuffed superhero genre with a psychological thriller. It rarely relies on twists and turns, giving the audience the necessary information before it becomes critical. The film’s protagonist, Cassandra Web, can see the future in brief, plot-convenient glimpses. There aren’t many twists and turns, but the film does have upcoming events on its mind. Fans will have to wait and see whether any of its potential threads continue into later films.
The Sony Spider-Man Universe has been an unmitigated disaster for over a decade.The Amazing Spider-Manfilms have fans, but many see them as the worst Peter Parker story on the big screen.Venomand its sequel are bizarre, choppy messes without the courage of their convictions.Morbiusis the flagship failure, the negative baseline against which every new flop will be measured. For those wondering,Madame Webis worse thanVenombut better thanMorbius.
S. J. Clarkson
Writers
Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Claire Parker, S. J. Clarkson, Kerem Sanga
Release Date
February 14th, 2024
Madame Webfollows Cassandra Web, a misanthropic paramedic struggling to save lives while avoiding humans. Cassie grew up in the foster system because her mom died in Peru shortly before she was born. Though Cassie doesn’t know the details, her mother was murdered by her hired security, Ezekiel Sims. Sims stole and used the rare spider Dr. Webb found in the jungle, granting him superpowers. Sims is tormented by prophetic dreams, foretelling the moment of his death at the hands of three young ladies in spider-themed costumes. He becomes obsessed with finding his would-be murderers and killing them before they gain the power to strike him down. Meanwhile, Cassie wanders into seemingly coincidental crossingswith each teenage girl. Shortly after, Cassie suffers a near-death experience and awakens consistent feelings of déjà vu. After she watches a friend’s death and fails to warn him, she learns she can see brief glimpses of the future.
Cassie boards a train to her friend’s funeral at the behest of her longtime partner, Ben Parker. As she waits for departure, she watches all three young ladies join her in the train car. Julia Cornwall, Mattie Franklin,and Anya Corazonsit down. Cassie sees visions of Sims killing each of them. Panicked, she gathers the three and drags them off the train. When they see Sims crawling along the ceiling in a black-and-red Spider-Man costume, they stop alerting the police and run. Cassie hides Julia, Mattie, and Anya in the woods while she digs into her mother’s research, discovering myths about the “Araña” or Spider-People of Peru. She learns Sims' powers match theirs, forcing her to diginto her past tosave her new friends' futures.
How doesMadame Webend?
Cassie leaves Julia, Mattie, and Anyawith Ben Parker whileshe flies to Peru. Sims uses stolen NSA technology to track every camera in New York and hunt the young ladies. He has been foiled at every turn as Cassie consistently predicts his attacks and facilitates the girls' escape. Cassie discovers one of the Araña, who shares the rest of her mother’s story. He explains that the Araña gifted her mom a spider bite that saved Cassie. She further discovers that her mom traveled to Peru while pregnant because Cassie was diagnosed with a crippling congenital condition that could have ended her life prematurely. Her mom believed the Peruvian spider could cure her, leading her to risk her life on the voyage. Cassie finally forgives her mother for a decision she only now understands.The Araña also unpacksher powers, telling her she’ll soon be able to occupy several places simultaneously. She returns to New York with her heightened gifts to stop Sims.
Julia, Mattie, and Anya stay with Ben, who is staying with his very pregnant sister, Mary Parker. Ben is ecstatic about becoming an uncle to his unnamed nephew, so when Mary’s water breaks, he and the teens pack into the car to race to the hospital. Cassie sees avision of Sims bombingtheir car and steals an ambulance to save them. She plows the vehicle into Sims and takes the girls away, letting Ben and Mary escape to the hospital. Cassie’s visions let her plan ahead, arranging a showdown in a dilapidated building full of fireworks. She guides her new friends to light road flares, planting time bombs in every corner. They flee to the roof, leaving Sims to contend with constant explosions. Cassie splits her consciousness, accessing three potential futures simultaneously to pull all three young ladies up from danger. She carefully angles Sims into place, letting a rogue explosive knock him off the roof and drop a massive neon sign onto him. Cassie is launched into the nearby water, where a firework blinds her. While she recovers, Mary has her son, and Uncle Ben meets his nephew for the first time. Cassie loses eyesight but still sees through clairvoyance. She’s confined to a chair but capable of projecting herself anywhere. She tells Julia, Mattie, and Anya that she knows their heroic future. The film ends with a shot of the three Spider-Womenwith Madame Webfloating behind them.
Shockingly,Madame Webdoesn’t have an after-credits scene. It sets up three potential Spider-Women and possibly a new Peter Parker. It could be a standalone side story,or Adam Scott couldhave been Tom Holland’s Uncle Ben. Though the film does everything it can to build potential new avenues, the messy narrative will likely kill any plans for this dead limb of a dying franchise.Madame Web’s future looks grim.
