Sony’s first female lead Marvel superhero is Dakota Johnson, the actor has confirmed reacting to the latest report’s of her casting as Madame Web for a Spider-Man spinoff project. The movie will be set in the shared Marvel Universe where Tom Hardy’s Venom and Jared Leto’s Morbius exist.
News of the Fifty Shades of Grey star’s involvement in Sony’s Spider-Man universe was confirmed in an Instagram post by Johnson with a simple spider web emoji. For those unaware, the character appears as an elderly blind psychic in Marvel comics, named Cassandra Webb. Yet Julia Carpenter’s Spider-woman takes over the reign as the blind superhero with the ability to see the future.
OMG! Dakota just confirmed she is playing Madame Web 🕸 #DakotaJohnson
📸 dakotajohnson IG Stories pic.twitter.com/UTh7rmymfJ
— Dakota Johnson Updates (@dakotaj_updates) February 5, 2022
Johnson was among a list of “A-listers” considered for the female superhero role (via: Deadline). The project has Defenders and Jessica Jones director S.J. Clarkson on board to direct the flick with Morbius screenwriter duo Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless hired to scribe the script.
The Madame Web starring spider-man spin-off is among a list of Marvel character-based projects in development at Sony Pictures. The studio is also developing Kraven the Hunter starring Aaron-Taylor Johnson. Nevertheless, Sony’s expanding Spider-Verse will also see a solo Spider-Woman film from Olivia Wilde. Early rumors indicate the feature will introduce Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman.
Thanks to the billion-dollar success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the landscape of Sony’s Marvel films has changed for good with fans also campaigning for the continuation of Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man arc. Furthermore, it remains to be seen how the multiverse narrative could impact Morbius and Venom. While Sony seems to be on road to setting up its own behemoth of a universe – the studio still hopes to see each of its franchises stand-alone without serving as a supportive pillar for other titles.
“The most important thing is that each of these movies can stand on their own,” said Amy Pascal in a 2019 interview addressing a question regarding Morbius and Kraven the Hunter co-existing in the same continuity as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man.
Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web spin-off does not have a release attached yet.
