'Madame Web' Movie, Set In Sony's Spider-Man Universe, To Be Written By 'Morbius' Writers

With the cinematic version of Spider-Man yanked out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and once again under Sony's full control, the studio is looking to bolster its own Spider-Man universe. A new report says Sony's latest idea is to make a Madame Web movie about the Spider-Man supporting character, an old blind woman who can see the future, and Morbius writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have been hired to write the screenplay.

Collider reports that a Madame Web movie is in development, with Sazama and Sharpless (whose credits include Dracula Untold, The Last Witch Hunter, Gods of Egypt, and Netflix's new Lost in Space) tackling the script. For those who aren't familiar with the character, I'll let them give a brief rundown:

Created by writer Denny O'Neil and artist John Romita Jr., Madame Web first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #210, which was published by Marvel Comics in November 1980. Known as Cassandra Webb, she is usually depicted as an elderly blind woman suffering from a chronic neuromuscular disease that makes it difficult to move and breathe, and as such, she's connected to a life support system that looks like a spider web. The clairvoyant character has precognitive abilities and once helped Spider-Man find a kidnap victim.

In addition to popping up in the comics, Madame Web has also appeared in video games and on the Spider-Man animated series, which I loved as a kid. In that show, she was often depicted as an all-seeing inter-dimensional chess player, a recruiter for a more powerful entity known as The Beyonder. The Beyonder and Web traveled across the universe and stumbled upon Earth, and after becoming fascinated with humanity's concepts of good and evil, selected Spider-Man as a force for good. Web would often whisk Spider-Man away to other dimensions using the astral plane (something we've seen on film in Doctor Strange...but I guess now Sony will have to come up with its own version if they want to keep that intact for this movie).

Madame Web is relatively obscure in the roster of Spider-Man supporting characters, and she's an odd choice to lead such an early movie in Sony's universe of Marvel characters. I can't help but be reminded of the time Sony wanted to make an Aunt May prequel movie where she was a spy; wouldn't it be better to introduce characters like Black Cat and Silver Sable, like they were originally planning? Or does the interest in Madame Web indicate that the studio has more ambitious plans for this universe than we thought?

Morbius, a movie about the Marvel Comics vampire, is in production now with Jared Leto in the lead role. Matt Smith, Tyrese Gibson, and Jared Harris join him in the cast, and that film is scheduled to hit theaters on July 31, 2020.