Madame Web is Sony’s next MCU-adjacent film. That’s right, after Morbius, the hits keep coming. Madame Web is another in-house Spider-Man villain to which Sony retained the rights when making their deal with Marvel. Now Sony is looking once again for its way into the MCU with this new member of Peter Parker’s rogues’ gallery. But Madame Web is a different kind of villain that can hook the Sony Spider-Verse into the MCU without much trouble. And if they can make a decent movie out of it, it could lead to an entire world of Spider-Man movies that we haven’t seen before.
Spider-Man has battled several of his personal villains in the past. Most recently, in No Way Home, he all but fought the Sinister Six by name – which is the core group of Marvel villains that Sony owns. Now that Sony is working in Madame Web in her new movie in 2024, they’ve got a huge opportunity to link all of their properties with the Marvel universe using the Multiverse concept that Disney is so fond of using to integrate old Marvel properties before they owned them. Madame Web could lead to a mini Spider-Verse of films revolving specifically around Spider-Man.
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How Is Madame Web Different?
Sony Pictures Releasing
Sony has had these types of movies before. Their first was technically Venom, but that was only after their deal for Marvel properties had been resolved with Disney. Morbius was their first foray into the line of Spider-Man villains that now has plans to grow in the future, with Kraven the Hunter coming next year and the Bad Bunny project El Muerto which may be coming a year after.
All of these supervillains have originally had their start facing off against Spider-Man, and some of them, like Venom, have even gone on to star in their own comics and storylines. Morbius may never have that chance. But regardless of the film’s terrible reputation, Sony seems to be pushing ahead with every second-rate superhero it can get its hands on. And Madame Web may have a chance to change the story for Sony.
Madame Web, as a villain, has a unique set of powers inside the Spider-Verse. She is cursed with a severe terminable disease that creates a ticking clock for her to accomplish her evil deeds. But this disease has the side effect of giving her powerful psychic abilities, which put her in touch with something called “The Web of Life and Destiny.” This mystical force specific to the Spider-Man line of comics helps connect the multiverse in Marvel. “The Web of Life and Destiny” has been used on several occasions to link different incarnations of Spider-Man. We’ve already seen something similar happen with the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. If Sony is looking for a back door into the MCU, Madame Web may be the perfect way in.
While Into the Spider-Verse and its subsequent sequels are all animated, Madame Web is a live-action film, allowing it to reach into the MCU. We already know this Spider-specific multiverse connection exists in MCU canon. Sony has the keys to one of the villains heavily connected to this part of Spider-Man lore. All they have to do is open a portal, and every single one of Sony’s movies could rush into Peter Parker’s section of the world.
How Could Sony’s Spider-Verse Connect to the MCU?
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Sony already hinted that they plan to expand their corner of the Marvel universe. In the post-credits scene of Morbius, Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, AKA the Vulture, showed up for just long enough to remind us all of his vendetta against Spider-Man and how he might be connected to Morbius.
But outside the studio’s desire to get close to the web-slinger, they might not be able to do it legally. Kevin Feige might not let them borrow Tom Holland for a day. “The Web of Life and Destiny” could create a logical comic book way to start a narrative within Sony’s own Spider-Verse that could backdoor them into a different Spider-Man world.
Although we’ve already seen evidence that these movies take place in the same universe as the MCU Spider-Man that we know, Madame Web might create a portal that could subvert the legal guidelines of working with a familiar Spider-Man. With the proper multiverse connection, there could suddenly be more than one Spider-Man in the MCU, and the two shall never meet simply because of complicated legal red tape. Either that or it could just let Sony into the legitimate world of the MCU and help them add their villains to the world of Spider-Man.
So, while Tom Holland is off on his own Spider-Man adventures, this group of slightly alternative anti-heroes could be seen going on their own journeys in a kind of Spider-Verse Suicide Squad-type way. Madame Web creates a great many possibilities for Sony in the multiverse.
