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One Bonkers Moment From The Madame Web Trailer Has Already Become A Meme

Dakota Johnson in Madame Web Sony Pictures
By Sandy Schaefer

Sony's "Madame Web" trailer might be the most ridiculous trailer for a major studio release I've seen in a hot minute. There are just so many bizarre moments that jump out at you. Dakota Johnson playing a Manhattan paramedic who inexplicably gains clairvoyant powers that grant her visions like those from a "Final Destination" film? The way the trailer just throws a trio of female spider-heroes right at you? Johnson's Cassandra Webb magically gaining the ability to fight and drive ambulances like a seasoned pro thanks to her newfound future-seeing visions? Who is she, Bradley Cooper in "Limitless"? (Does Cassandra use more than 10 percent of her brain, too?) Sony refusing to call its latest (Peter Parker-free?) Spider-Man spinoff a superhero movie and referring to it as a "suspense-driven thriller" is merely the bow on top of this pile of nonsense.

However, there is one moment that stands out above all the others. That would be the one where Cassandra identifies what appears to be the film's primary antagonist, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), stating: 

"He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died." 

In a reminder that, sometimes, the internet is Good, Actually, it took less than 24 hours for the online masses to turn this truly terrible piece of dialogue into a meme by inserting it into everything from classic lines from films like "Chinatown" and "Goodfellas" to notorious real-life moments, including that time Johnson herself infamously called out Ellen DeGeneres after Ellen claimed she hadn't been invited to Johnson's birthday party. Maybe this isn't the darkest timeline after all?

I was writing this slide's title in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died

Madame Web cast Sony Pictures

What is it about this line that makes it so hilariously awful? At its best, exposition of this kind is just as carefully crafted as any other type of dialogue in a film. Just think of the scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) quickly recaps the history of the Ark for a pair of Army Intelligence officers. The sequence is pure exposition yet the dialogue is pleasing to the ear and intriguing, partly thanks to Ford's enthusiastic delivery. In comparison, the "Madame Web" line is functional to a fault, cramming in as much information as possible with no sense of rhythm. It's so rough that it's hard to fault Johnson for not somehow elevating it with the way she says it. Short of Johnson channeling Nicolas Cage at his wildest, I don't know how this line could sound anything but clunky.

It does, however, make for a wonderful meme, as you can see from some of the following examples:

Perhaps it's because folks are more eager than usual to be silly following a stressful year of extremely necessary strikes, or perhaps it's because Johnson herself has proven to be a surprisingly reliable source for memes. Whatever the case, it's heartening to see the internet rescuing this line from itself so quickly. Just don't go mistaking this for un-ironic enthusiasm for "Madame Web," Sony. One can only hope the studio learned that lesson the last time one of its Spider-Man spinoffs birthed a social media trend. 

Then again, who knows? Perhaps Cassandra and her spider-pals will have the last laugh when the movie swings in theaters on February 14, 2024.

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