In another of MCU’s attempts to bring one of its comic book characters to life, the buzz on Madame Web has taken center stage. Set to hit theatres on February 16th, 2024, the Spier-Man spin-off film stars a power-packed team of actresses like Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, and Celeste O’Connor. While Johnson will be playing the titular superhero, O’Connor will presume the character of the third Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin.
Interestingly, O’Connor’s character has been race-swapped in the Marvel film. As per the comic books, the character has not been portrayed as such as in the S.J. Clarkson-led movie. Hence, Sony Production is in talks to have secretly race-swapped Franklin’s character.
Mattie Franklin gets a brand-new appearance
The news of Celeste O’Connor getting cast in the film surfaced soon after the shooting of Madame Web began last year. Alongside her, Dakota Johnson will play the lead character while Sydney Sweetney and Isabela Merced will portray the characters of Julia Carpenter and Anya Corazon respectively. Emma Roberts will play Mary Parker.
The news of the Ghostbusters: Afterlife actress donning the role of the magical web-slinger raised concerns among comic book fanatics, per Bounding Into Comics. Fans could not accept the impromptu change in Mattie’s look, however, this is a common phenomenon in the MCU. Many other superheroes have been race-swapped prior to this movie.
It is expected that the fans’ agitation on race-swaps links to their affinity for comic book resemblance, rather than racial discrimination. As per a report by CBR, comic fanatics were not pleased when The Hulk was introduced as a separate superhero in the MCU. As in the comics, Hulk’s human alias, Bruce Banner always led the show, while Hulk remained in the background.
What is Mattie Franklin’s superhero story?
For those who might not be a die-hard comic book fanatic, Franklin first appeared in Amazing Spide-Man Vol. 1 #441 issue. She was introduced as the niece of J. Jonah Jameson, who took her father, Norman Osborn’s place in the meeting where participants were essentially given their superhero powers or even cursed to insanity or death. It was called the Gathering of Five.
Living in the Spiderman Universe, Mattie desired the power of spinning webs. Hence, at the Gathering of Five, ‘immortality’ was gifted to Cassandra Web a.k.a Madame Web while Mattie received the gift of ‘power.’ This embarked Franklin on her journey to fighting crime and wearing a superhero costume. Moreover, she took over the duties at a time when Peter Parker was on a hiatus from being Spiderman, since he wanted to spend time with his long-time partner, Mary Jane.
Sadly, the comic books killed Franklin. After a string of bad events, she was kidnapped and murdered by the Kravinoff family to bring back their dead son, Vladimir, to life. Let’s wait and watch what the Marvel film has to offer.
