Starring: Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott
OUR RATING: ★☆☆☆☆
Story: Superhero thriller from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe directed and co-written by SJ Clarkson. Madame Web (2024) is the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines which follows Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson), a paramedic in Manhattan, who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women (Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, and Isabela Merced) destined for powerful futures, if they can all survive a deadly present.
Where to Watch:
'You are the only one who can change the future. And when you take on the responsibility, great power will come.' - Santiago (Madame Web) Share on X
Constance: [referring to the spider] Isn’t she beautiful? Incredible, isn’t it? Something so small yet have so much power.
Santiago: [as Cassandra is born] Her journey will not be easy, but she is strong. She will come back when she needs answers. And when she does, I will be here for her.
Cassandra Webb: [to the cat] Us strays need to stick together.
Cassandra Webb: [as she looks through Constance’s journal] Hope the spiders were worth it, Mom.
Ben Parker: [to Cassandra] Welcome back to the land of the living.
Ezekiel Sims: Believe me, it’s a good thing you had no idea today was the day you were going to die.
Mary Parker: [referring to her unborn baby] Never stops leaping around in there. And always hungry.
Ezekiel Sims: They’re teenagers now, but in the future they have powers, and they will try to destroy me. I came from nothing, less than nothing. I will not give up everything I’ve built and have my life cut short.
Doctor: Sometimes when we experience trauma, it can have a lasting effect.
Cassandra Webb: This isn’t trauma. I knew he was going to die. I saw it.
New York Dude: New York City is a whole new level of crazy these days.
Cassandra Webb: This is an emergency situation. I need you to follow my instructions. Get off the train. Come on.
Mattie Franklin: My mom told me never to talk to strangers, so.
Cassandra Webb: Okay, well, this is what we’re going to do, okay? We’re just going to like lay low for a little bit. And I’ll figure out how to get out of this. This is still not a kidnapping. Okay?
Mattie Franklin: Feels like a kidnapping.
Julia Cornwall: Wait. You’re the paramedic. You saved my stepmother, then you were super awkward about it.
Cassandra Webb: That does sound like me.
Anya Corazón: You don’t think this is weird? That we both know you?
Cassandra Webb: It’s honestly like the least weird thing that’s happened all day.
Cassandra Webb: I can see the future. Kind of.
Cassandra Webb: [as Mattie throws a rock at her] What the hell?
Mattie Franklin: See? She didn’t see that coming?
Cassandra Webb: It doesn’t work like that.
Anya Corazón: [to Cassandra] When you were looking into the future did you see us in the middle of nowhere eating glove-compartment jerky?
Julia Cornwall: Just three teenagers alone in the woods. Definitely not the opening of a horror film.
Cassandra Webb: [to the girls] Just stay here. And don’t do anything dumb. Seriously. Don’t do dumb things.
Cassandra Webb: [to herself] How would you know if you could climb a wall if you’ve never tried?
Mattie Franklin: You will not like me when I’m hangry.
Anya Corazón: Who says we like you now?
Cassandra Webb: [as she sees the girls dancing on the diner table] So much for not attracting attention.
Cassandra Webb: So much for not needing a babysitter. Do you guys think of anybody but yourselves? You’re so impulsive and entitled, and you don’t listen!
Cassandra Webb: Your futures were almost so different. You’re lucky I saw them.
Ezekiel Sims: The only thing I know is that, in the future, they also have powers.
Cassandra Webb: The girls? The girls have powers in the future?
Ezekiel Sims: [to Cassandra] Did you think you could beat me with your mind? Your mother underestimated me. The power of the spider. Don’t make the same mistake.
Ben Parker: I can’t pretend to understand what’s going on here.
Santiago: [to Cassandra, referring to Sims] He used your mom to find us. But because he stole the spider he was cursed. And he’s been trying to outrun his destiny ever since.
'To see the future clearly, you have to heal the wounds of your past.' - Santiago (Madame Web) Share on X
Santiago: [to Cassandra] You have to go back to your beginning and keep going past that. There are powers you don’t even know you’re capable of. Your thread did not start when you were born.
Constance: I’m unwilling to accept a diagnosis of helplessness. And I’m not going to teach my daughter to either.
Cassandra Webb: [to Constance as she sees her in her vision] You did it. I never knew I was sick. The spider venom did have healing properties. I’m so sorry I spent so long being mad at you.
Santiago: Sometimes you must sacrifice yourself for those you love.
Santiago: You came here to learn the truth about your past. But you will leave ready to embrace your future.
Santiago: [to Cassandra] You didn’t get the gift of the greater physical strength, or the ability to release poison, but seeing into the future is only the start. Your mind has infinite potential. If you master your power, you can use the web to be in more than one place at the same time.
Ezekiel Sims: Every day that goes by, my appointment with death gets closer.
Mattie Franklin: Now you’re showing off.
Cassandra Webb: Maybe a little.
Ezekiel Sims: You still can’t beat me with your mind.
Cassandra Webb: What makes you so sure?
Cassandra Webb: [to Sims] You’ve been trying to change your future. But the girls were never your future. I was.
Julia Cornwall: [after Cassandra defeats Sims and loses her sight and is not able to walk] Ben said to tell you that the baby is doing really well. And he’s loving being an uncle.
Anya Corazón: Yeah. All the fun and none of the responsibility.
Cassandra Webb: That’s what he thinks.
Julia Cornwall: How’s your eyesight?
Cassandra Webb: I can see better than I ever have.
Anya Corazón: Oh, yeah? Can you see us in the future?
Cassandra Webb: Yes. I can see you. Standing up for what you believe. Never giving up. Discovering you were always more powerful than you thought.
Cassandra Webb: Whatever the future holds, we’ll be ready. And you know the best thing about the future? It hasn’t happened yet.