Emma Roberts Joins Sony And Marvel's Madame Web

Chances are, any blonde actress of a certain age has been fan-cast to appear in a "Spider-Man" movie countless times on the internet by now. Emma Roberts has always remained a popular choice for the role of Gwen Stacy, but maybe that casting actually took place in some other distant alternate universe. In our own wonderfully unpredictable one instead, well, life continues to be nothing but a never-ending series of curveballs.

Deadline brings the news that Emma Roberts has become the latest to join the increasingly star-studded cast of Sony's Spidey-adjacent spin-off: "Madame Web." The report doesn't include any specific details on the character she'll be portraying in the film, whether an established comic book character or an original one altogether, but it's likely that all those Gwen Stacy fan-casters (conspiracy theorists?) will end up slightly disappointed. Still, this will mark the actor's first foray into the superhero world. Best known for her recurring role in FX's "American Horror Story" series, Roberts has previously appeared in the excellent "Scream 4," the 2013 film "We're the Millers," and also in 2016's "Nerve."

Sony's attempts to build out their universe based on the supporting characters of Spider-Man has been ... hit or miss, to this point. Despite the (partially meme-driven) success of both "Venom" and its sequel, "Let There Be Carnage," the Jared Leto-starring "Morbius" didn't exactly fare as well. In fact, the misguided notion that the memes making fun of "Morbius" somehow translated to actual audience interest in watching it only led to even more embarrassment. As we all know, the only thing "Morbius" accomplished was ending up on the shortlist of films that have somehow managed to underperform twice in theaters.

Undaunted, the studio is nevertheless moving forward after the overwhelming success of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and has set its sights on "Kraven the Hunter" and "Madame Web." The latter film is directed by S.J. Clarkson and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless (with Kerem Sanga credited for a previous draft) and also stars Dakota Johnson ("Cha Cha Real Smooth"), Sidney Sweeney ("Euphoria"), Isabela Merced ("Dora and the Lost City of Gold," "Transformers: The Last Knight"), Celeste O'Connor ("Ghostbusters: Afterlife"), and Tahar Rahim ("The Serpent"). The rather obscure comic book character of Madame Web has been previously described as "essentially Sony's version of Doctor Strange" due to her psychic-based power set ... though also keep in mind that the character has traditionally been depicted as an elderly woman who never actually fights anyone herself. So there's that.

"Madame Web" has not received a release date yet at this early point in the film's production.