The Sony Spider-Man Universe’s Madame Web movie has had its timeline revealed, and it holds a major connection to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man.
Madame Web’s timeline carries an interesting connection to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe will so expand with Madame Web. The movie will star Dakota Johnson, with her Cassandra Webb being one of the four Spider-Man-related heroes of Madame Web. While the upcoming SSU movie will feature exciting characters from the Spider-Man comics, the universe at large has yet to see the debut of a Spider-Man, be it Tom Holland’s Peter Parker from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or someone else.
In 2021, Spider-Man movie fans were treated to an unprecedented event. Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home brought together all three live-action Spider-Man movie actors: Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield. While Holland will continue in the role for at least the MCU’s Spider-Man 4, Maguire and Garfield have no set projects to return as their versions of Peter Parker despite fan demand. While Maguire is unlikely to appear in the SSU movie, the reveal of when Madame Web’s story takes place positions the film to share a surprising connection to Maguire’s Spider-Man movies.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Madame Web takes place in 2003, with the movie’s description reading, “the film follows Cassie as she grapples with her newfound powers and faces off against a mysterious enemy named Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim).” That would put Madame Web in the same range as the Maguire Spider-Man films. The actor first played Peter Parker in 2002’s Spider-Man, then leading Spider-Man 2 in 2004 and Spider-Man 3 in 2007.
The SSU still has to see a Spider-Man debut, and making Maguire’s the main hero of the universe could work. The Venom movies and Morbius have established that the SSU has yet to see a Spider-Man rise, and that could be explained in Madame Web. While Maguire’s Spider-Man might not show up in the film, a secret post-credits scene teasing his version of the character could solve the SSU’s Spider-Man absence. Since Madame Web takes place in the past, around the timeline of Maguire’s Spider-Man movies, the actor could return as Spider-Man for new SSU films in that time period.
Holland still has a future in the MCU, and Garfield possibly coming back for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 with Emma Stone as Spider-Gwen would be better for the actor. Besides, Maguire has said that he is game for any possible new projects as Spider-Man, making him the easiest candidate for the SSU to enlist. All Sony would need to do is perhaps have it be a slight variant of Maguire’s Spider-Man, as he already fought Topher Grace’s Venom, not Hardy’s, in Spider-Man 3. It remains to be seen if Madame Web will connect to Maguire’s Spider-Man beyond their similar timeline.
