Sony Presents Madame Web

Disney has managed to wrangle back each piece of the Marvel Universe the company sold off to cover its debts in the 90s…with the exception of Spider-Man. The movie rights to that character and everything relating to him solidly belong to Sony Pictures, and the only way Disney can have Spidey in Avengers movies is if they negotiate. In the meantime, Sony is free to make movies out of any Spider-Man character, no matter how obscure or unknown. And they will.

The latest up to bat is Madame Web…but who’s Madame Web? Is she as radically awesome as Morbius? (Sorry.) That depends on your opinion, but she and the other characters in this film come from the J. Michael Straczynski era of the comics, in which Spider-Man’s origin was pushed from a raw science sort of incident to some kind of grand mystical cosmic plan. Part of that storyline involved the emergence of Ezekiel Sims, a wealthy old dude who had built his fortune by cheating (using his powers basically). Sims is the “evil Spider-Man” that appears in the trailer released today. He’s much younger than his comic counterpart, but his goal is to kill three women before they become spider-themed superheroes in New York.

In steps a paramedic gifted with the ability to see the future, the Madame Web of the title — her real name is Cassandra, because why would it be anything else. Since Ezekiel can ALSO see the future, it’s a battle of one power against another — though as the powers of the other girls emerge, they’ll stand a better chance against their enemy.

Madame Web looks like another “meh” entry from the Sony Superhero Factory, but if you desire, you can catch it in theaters February 14. That date puts it in direct competition with Lisa Frankenstein.