Since Sony’s release of Madame Web, many have wondered if their Spider-Man cinematic universe is now truly dead after its box office bombing and the many negative reviews left in the film’s wake. However, can they recover from this, and if so, how? The simple answer is to introduce Marvel’s Wall-Crawler and have him finally be part of the cinematic universe.
What Madame Web got right was making the film a prequel and introducing Peter Parker’s soon-to-be Uncle Ben and his mother Mary Parker. The movie saw a pregnant Mary Parker as she soon gave birth to a baby boy named Peter Parker. The film takes place in 2003. It’s perfect for this universe’s Peter Parker to become Spider-Man at around 2018 considering he became the Masked Marvel at 15 years old. There are many comics to choose from and while it doesn’t have to be yet another reboot, he can already be Spider-Man at this time and have Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web become a sort of mother figure the same way she was for Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin.
What could this Spider-Man look like and what could the story for him look like? If Madame Web is set in the year 2003 and by the time he’s 15, the year will be 2018. If Sony’s Spider-Verse thrives despite Madame Web’s box office and critical failure, they could bring back Adam Scott’s Ben Parker for one more role before he is used as Peter Parker’s motivation to be a superhero as Spider-Man. Bringing back Emma Robert’s fantastic interpretation of Peter’s mom, Mary Parker, could be a great addition to the film to showcase her importance as a mother before she dies, similar to the way Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man films greatly emphasized his parents.
Madame Web can serve as that mother Peter Parker has been needing alongside a new version and casting of Aunt May. An interaction of May didn’t appear in Madame Web but subtle hints were dropped about her in a conversation between Adam Scott’s Ben Parker and Dakota Johnson’s Cassie Webb, so we know she does indeed exist. This iteration of Spider-Man could take a different approach not seen in past films with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland. Sony’s Spider Verse’s Spider-Man could be a part of something greater by having him interact with Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin as they teach him to be a good superhero after the death of Scott’s Uncle Ben.
Who could be the villain? While Tahar Rahim’s Ezekiel Sims supposedly died in the film, he could be brought back to cause vengeance upon Cassie Webb and those close to her, including Peter Parker. A rumor circulated that the original movie’s plot had Ezekiel hunt Emma Robert’s pregnant Mary Parker to prevent the birth and eventual rise of the future, Spider-Man. The plot was somewhat different in Madame Web and had Sims hunt the three girls instead. The rumored original plot could be reused for this new Spidey story as he finds out how to become the superhero he needs to be and as he battles a villain from his family’s past.
There is so much potential that was underused in Madame Web but there is time to expand those concepts in a new Spidey film that separates itself from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or even other Spider-Man variants like Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of the Wall-Crawler. If done right, the Spider-Man Cinematic Universe can pick up and leave films like Venom and Morbius separate or non-canon from Madame Web’s story.
