By all accounts, Madame Web was a mess. Leading lady Dakota Johnson looked annoyed at having to appear in it. Sydney Sweeney used her time on Saturday Night Live to poke fun at it. The plot made absolutely no sense, and the box office reflected a general apathy toward the film. And yet, weeks after the movie tanked, we are learning ways that the movie might have been worse… and strangely enough, they involve Spider-Man!
Madame Web absolutely belongs near the bottom of any list of the Best Spider-Man movies ever made. And that’s partly because, by being a prequel set in the 1980s, Spider-Man couldn’t be involved in the story. That didn’t stop the four credited screenwriters from using Peter Parker in an incredibly bizarre way. And now, thanks to concept art released by Sebastian Meyer, we’re learning that it was – at the very least – pitched to have Spider-Man appear in the movie… even though that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Meyer posted several images on his official site reflecting different stages of production on Madame Web. And in at least two images, we see what appears to be Tom Holland’s Spider-Man fighting the main villain in the movie, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim).
In addition to this aerial fight, we see another concept sketch of Sims fighting Spider-Man as they tumble down the side of a skyscraper.
OK, but… Peter Parker is a newborn baby in Madame Web. He’s not Spider-Man. In fact, no one in the cast earns their Spider powers through the course of the movie. All of Madame Web is a tease for a story that might one day happen – but probably won’t, because no one liked this film.
These definitely are from Madame Web, though, as we see plenty of images from the final cut, including Cassie in Peru. Because that’s a thing that happened.
So, how could Madame Web include Tom Holland’s Spider-Man? Well, one of the main character’s powers is clairvoyance, so she easily could have predicted battles between Ezekiel Sims and Holland’s hero. This, at the very least, would have established some thread (or web) of connectivity between the Sony Spider-Verse movies and Holland’s hero. Because at the moment, there is basically nothing. Even though, if Sony wants to keep rolling out the likes of Kraven the Hunter, a third Venom, and more… there better be solid Spider-Man plans in place pronto, because the franchise is adrift without them.
