Spider-Man is undoubtedly one of the most popular superheroes of all time, especially amongst Malaysians. So when we heard there’s a new Spider-Person movie coming out very soon, of course we got excited!
However, based on the trailers and info we’ve gotten so far, it looks like the new Marvel movie, Madame Web, is shaping up to be very different from other superhero movies that came before. Come geek out with us and find out why we think so!
1. Enter the Spider-Verse like never before!
Instead of exploring the many different worlds of the Spider-Verse, Madame Web will be taking us on a roller coaster ride through time, as the titular character, Cassandra Webb, is bestowed with the power to see the future (a.k.a. clairvoyance) after a near-death experience.
“She experiences the future as if it’s the present,” Dakota Johnson revealed, who’s in the starring role. “It’s similar to Spidey sense, but turned to the max – it’s actually seeing and hearing what is about to happen.”
2. More like a supernatural psychological thriller
Even though Cassie’s unique ability is pretty powerful, the only caveat is she isn’t able to tell what’s real and what isn’t, making the movie more of a psychological thriller that’s atypical of a superhero movie. “She doesn’t know if they’re dreams or visions; she chalks it up to the accident, that maybe she has a brain injury,” Johnson added. “That’s where she starts her journey – thinking that she’s losing her mind, rather than becoming a superhero.”
3. Award-winning actress Dakota Johnson in the lead
And of course, having a high-calibre actor like Johnson to play the enigmatic superheroine is a win in our books, especially when she has to capture Cassie’s complex fear of forming close relationships with other people.
“As a paramedic, her role is to fix the problem on the spot and move on – she doesn’t have to provide long-term care for her patients,” she says. “It’s fast-paced, which means that she doesn’t have to commit to relationships, romantic or otherwise. She can be a solo being, which is where she feels comfortable.”
4. THREE Spider-Women on the big screen!
Probably the biggest highlight for us is that we’ll get to witness not one, not two, but THREE Spider-Women in live-action together for the first time! In Madame Web, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor and Isabela Merced will be playing three different Spider-Women who haven’t realised their destinies yet, but are somehow brought together by Cassie’s powers.
“I was very intrigued by the prospect of a female superhero’s superpower being her mind,” she says. “I was also really intrigued by the relationship that she has with three younger women – how she becomes a maternal figure to them while empowering them to discover their true natures as Spider-Women.”
5. Versus an evil Spider-Person…?
As Cassie and the three young Spider-Women learn to develop their respective powers, Cassie’s clairvoyance warns her of a mysterious man in a black superhero suit who’s hunting them down. He’s later revealed to be Ezekiel Sims (played by Tahar Rahim), who worked with Cassie’s mother before she died.
“(Ezekiel) has been getting visions in which he is an old man being killed by three Spider-Women,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura explained. “He is on a mission to find them and kill them before they kill him. His thought is – if he can get to them before they know that they are Spider-Women, before they know that they are powerful, he can defeat them and save his own life.”
Jom watch Madame Web a web-illion times!
Three future Spider-Women, one evil Spider-Man-looking supervillain, and Cassie standing between them and oblivion – will Cassie become the superheroine she needs to be before all hope is lost? Well, we won’t need to wait long to find out!
Madame Web will begin showing in Malaysian cinemas on 15 February. Get your tickets here for a thrilling good time with Madame Web and the Spider-Women!
