The upcoming female Spidey team is shaping up nicely, with the addition of the 'American Horror Story' and 'We're the Millers' star.
Emma Roberts is suiting up for the next Spider-Man spin-off from Sony, 'Madame Web'.
Roberts is well-known for her comedic and dramatic chops in the likes of Ryan Murphy's 'American horror Story' franchise ("surprise, b*tch"), as well as 'Wild Child', 'We're The Millers' and 'Holidate'. She's also done a few action/thriller-focussed roles, such as 'Nerve' and of course in 'Scream 4'.
There's no word yet on who Emma Roberts will play in 'Madame Web', a film based on a character who helps Spider-Man from time to time. The character has not yet appeared in a live-action production, so this is brand new territory for Sony and Marvel Studios.
Roberts joins the already cast Dakota Johnson in the action film, who will be playing the titular character. Given that Roberts has been known to play a few villainous roles in her time, could we begin speculation that she'll be the film's main antagonist? Let's see if Sony releases an official cast and character list soon.
'Euphoria' and 'The White Lotus' star Sydney Sweeney also joins the cast, as well as Isabela Merced from 'Dora and the Lost City of Gold', Celeste O'Connor from 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' and Tahar Rahim from 'The Mauritanian'.
An official spin-off from the main Tom Holland Spidey franchise (with Marvel's Kevin Feige on board as executive producer), the film is based on a character who has appeared in the web-slinger's comic books since the '80s. First popping up as an elderly clairvoyant, there have been different iterations of the character since then, with Johnson likely playing a young woman named Julia Carpenter, who inherits the elderly Madame Web's powers after her death. Not one for actually fighting villains, Sony has this character pegged as treading similar territory to Marvel's 'Doctor Strange'.
Sony Pictures have a number of films based within the Spider-Man franchise in production right now - a 'Kraven the Hunter' film has already been shot, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with a release date of January 2023 attached; while 'El Muerto' starring Bad Bunny, will release in 2024.
'Madame Web' from director S. J. Clarkson ('Anatomy of a Scandal') will be released in summer 2023.