Madame Web (2024) is a superhero film adapted from Marvel Comics, directed by S.J. Clarkson and starring Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney. The film is part of the Sony Spider-Verse and was released by Sony Pictures. Runtime: 1h 56m. Rated PG-13. Audience rating: 4.6/10.
What is Madame Web (2024) about?
A paramedic in New York gains the ability to see the future after a near-death experience, forcing her to protect three young women from a mysterious killer with connections to the Spider-Man universe.
Released in 2024, Madame Web was directed by S.J. Clarkson and produced under the Sony Pictures banner. The film occupies a significant place within the Sony Spider-Verse — contributing to the ongoing narrative and mythology of that cinematic universe.
The film features lead performances from Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, among others, anchoring a story that adapts characters first brought to life in Marvel Comics. Its source material gives the film a foundation rooted in decades of published storytelling, which Clarkson and the creative team interpret through a cinematic lens.
The film's 4.6 audience rating indicates a mixed response. Even so, it holds interest as part of the broader Sony Spider-Verse catalogue and for how it fits into the lineage of Marvel Comics-based cinema.
What happens in Madame Web (2024)? — Full Plot
We open in 1973 Peru. Constance Webb — a researcher studying the rare medicinal properties of a spider species — is mortally wounded by her colleague Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), who has been planning to obtain the spider's venom for himself. Pregnant Constance dies. Ezekiel takes the spider venom — which grants him superhuman abilities including spider-like agility and prophetic visions of his own death.
Cut to: 2003 New York. Cassandra 'Cassie' Webb (Dakota Johnson) — Constance's daughter, raised in foster care — is an EMT working night shifts in Queens. She has lived a quiet, isolated life. After a near-death incident on the job, Cassie discovers she has been having unusual visions of the near future — including her own death.
Cassie tracks the visions to three young women: Julia Cornwall, Anya Corazon, and Mattie Franklin — three teenagers Ezekiel Sims is hunting because of his prophecy. The prophecy: in 2024, the three women will be the Spider-Women who eventually kill him. Ezekiel intends to kill them as teenagers before they can develop their powers.
Cassie protects the three teenagers from Ezekiel. The film's middle act consists of various chase sequences across New York — diners, bus stations, motels — interspersed with Cassie's increasingly-vivid prophetic visions of multiple alternate futures.
Cassie's visions include flash-forwards of the three teens as adult Spider-Women — but the film never actually shows them in their costumes. This was widely cited as one of the film's most-frustrating choices: the audience is told these teenagers will become Spider-Women but never gets to see them as such.
The climax is at a New York City fireworks display. Cassie, having learned to control her precognitive abilities, traps Ezekiel in a falling scaffolding apparatus. He dies. Cassie is blinded in the explosion. The three teenagers — Julia, Anya, Mattie — vow to use their developing powers to protect her. The film closes with the implication that, years later, they will become the Spider-Women that Cassie's visions foretold.
Madame Web grossed $100 million globally on an $80 million budget — modestly profitable but well below industry expectations. The film's critical reception was largely negative; review aggregators showed an 11% Rotten Tomatoes score. The film became, alongside Kraven the Hunter (2024), the major contributor to Sony's announced strategic halt of the SSU expansion in February 2026 (covered in our coverage).
Who stars in Madame Web (2024)?
Find Madame Web (2024) on Amazon
Watch Madame Web on Prime Video, browse the original Marvel Comics source material, and discover Blu-rays, soundtracks, and related merchandise on Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Link clicks do not affect editorial coverage — see our disclaimer.
What are some facts about Madame Web (2024)?
Madame Web released in 2024, placing it within the 2020s era of comic book cinema — a decade that saw superhero films become the dominant force at the global box office.
Directed by S.J. Clarkson, the film was produced by Sony Pictures and adapts source material from Marvel Comics.
The principal cast features Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, with key supporting roles played by Isabela Merced, Celeste O'Connor.
The film belongs to Sony Spider-Verse — Sony Pictures' Spider-Man adjacent film universe.
Madame Web carries an audience rating of 4.6 — a mixed reception that highlights the divisive nature of superhero film adaptations.
The Marvel Comics source material for Madame Web has been in continuous publication for decades, giving filmmakers a rich well of storylines, character arcs, and iconography to draw upon.
Modern superhero films like this one use a mix of practical effects and digital VFX, with entire sequences often shot against volume walls or LED stages pioneered by shows like The Mandalorian.
Madame Web is catalogued on Movies on Comics among our collection of 162 comic book films spanning 48 years of cinema — from Richard Donner's 1978 Superman to the present day.
