“When you take on the responsibility, great power will come.”
In my opinion, Madame Web is a victim of its own marketing. Based on the trailers, the audience members, such as myself, geared up for an expansion of the spider-verse featuring several notable characters who donned the spider mantle. As such, I expected to see Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor showcasing their skills as their respective characters. And while we are partially treated to this, it essentially amounts to an appetizer, as these scenes make up less than five minutes of the film’s run time. For me, that made the film basically a 116-minute trailer for larger story that I am skeptical that we will ever get. While I applaud the attempt to build a larger universe, the foundation needs to be established first, and sadly I don’t think it was adequately done here in Madame Web. This is disappointing given the talent pool of the aforementioned up-and-coming stars, as well as established actors such Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott, and Emma Roberts.
Another aspect complicating the success of the film is the alteration to several characters’ backstories. While poetic license has long been an aspect of book and comic adaptation to the silver screen, as someone with an awareness of the several of featured characters origins, it makes the acceptance of this new narrative a bitter pill to swallow. Take Ezkiel Sims (played by Tahar Rahim of The Mauritanian fame), who serves as the film’s primary antagonist. While Sims is far from a hero, it is difficult to accept him as a villain. In the comics, Sims can be selfish, but his motives are usually noble, such as keeping Silk safe and ultimately sacrificing himself to save Spider-Man. So, seeing him cast in a role where he is willing to kill children to satisfy his own selfish desires is in contrast with my knowledge of the character.
Playing devil’s advocate for a second, the idea that character would act in the manner shown in the film for the purposes of self-preservation is logical given his at times selfish nature. Even in the comics, he was initially willing to sacrifice Spider-Man in order to save himself. A slight alteration to the character, I think, could have aided in making Rahim’s rendition of the character easier to accept. A more internal struggle over the prospect of what he intended to do, or perhaps if he believed that what he was doing was for the greater good. This in a sense would have made the character slightly redeemable. It also would have also put the character more in line with the source material, as Sims on occasion did morally questionable things for the sake of the greater good, such as holding Cindy Moon (a.k.a Silk), the second person bitten by the radioactive spider that created Spider-Man, in isolation to keep her safe.
Back on the subject of Madame Web, the origins of her abilities are also bothersome. In what I assume was an attempt to keep things in the realm of the spider-verse, Cassandra Webb’s (Dakota Johnson) abilities are derived from a rare, thought to be mythical, spider from the Peruvian jungle. In the comics, Cassandra is a mutant, and her psychic abilities are the result of her mutation. Now given the taboo regarding the ownership of the “M” word, I understand the need to alter the origins of the character’s powers. However, the explanation in the movie is too simplistic for my taste. Having her powers derived from the spider is fine, but for this not to become a factor until thirty years later is too convenient. I would have preferred to have seen her precognition be more of a factor in her life growing up. Perhaps aiding in her work as an EMT, with her near-death experience serving as the significant triggering of her abilities. That way the audience is more invested her the character’s potential. Also, an important factor of Madame Web’s backstory is the neuromuscular disease that afflicts her. However, the inclusion of the condition is treated as an afterthought and used to provide catharsis for emotional turmoil for Cassandra that is barely hinted at during the film. Instead, the film opted for a more physical explanation for the character’s blindness and paralysis, which felt forced.
In summation, Madame Web was a victim of its own marketing. With some alteration, the story could have flowed better and connected better with the source material. As is, it fills like a nearly two-hour build-up towards a future project that I remain skeptical will ever come to fruition. While I enjoyed seeing Johnson, Sweeney, Merced, and O’Connor undertake the physical demands of their respective roles, it left me desiring more of that, which I didn’t get. Like I said, it’s like going to a fancy restaurant and only getting an appetizer.
There are extras on the Blu-ray release that include a handful of brief behind the scenes features, a gag reel, and a single deleted scene. The bonus features continue to make the mistake Sony made in marketing. They spend a lot of behind-the-scenes time on the girls working with their hero suits, an element that literally takes less than a minute of film time. They sold the film as something it was not, and that’s always going to shade an audience even if there are good things in the film. Did you ever reach for, say your iced tea and took a sip and it was Coke? Now, you like Coke, but the expectation of something else causes a negative reaction. It’s going to “put some dirt in your eye.”
