Madame Web missed its train to Destination: Success. Despite its cast, which included beloved Hollywood actors – Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Emma Roberts, and Adam Scott- the SJ Clarkson directorial was a massive box office bomb. Not only did a sea of Marvel fans disregard the film as possibly its worst production of all time, but critic platforms’s ratings sunk to the bottom of the sea, with Rotten Tomatoes grading it a mere 12% on its Tomatometer.
However, now it seems that the movie’s initial plans involved a certain ‘Friendly Neighbourhood’ character’s cameo, which could have saved the ship from sinking, at least to some extent.
Madame Web’s concept artist, Sebastian Meyer, blew the horn on a potential Tom Holland cameo in the action film, which never came to fruition in the end. On April 3, he revealed a handful of scrapped scenes from the superhero flick, one spotlighting the familiar and one of the most loved heroes of all time in action.
Concept Art: Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in Madame Web?
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The recently disclosed scenes picture a version of Spider-Man, sporting a suit similar to Tom Holland’s variant in the MCU, facing off against the Madame Web big bad, Ezekiel Sims. The second still catches them in action on top of a building, presumably falling through the sky.
Although the film doesn’t officially establish any direct connections with Tom Holland’s character, they are all closely related to him. Holland is also the longest-running actor to helm the Spider-Man mantle through the Marvel universe and is responsible for raking in the highest commercial success as the web-slinger.
Undoubtedly, his undeniable charm and authority over the role would have also worked in Madame Web’s theatrical favour. Peter Parker‘s name is never verbally dropped into the narrative. However, distant connections are made through Emma Roberts playing a pregnant Mary Parker, Peter’s mother, and Adam Scott as Uncle Ben.
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For Tom to actually have made it to this side of the action, he would have to travel back in time from his Earth 616 course. Another alternative would be to have him jump across the multiverse to somehow make this happen. However, neither of these envisioned pipe dreams came true.
Director SJ Clarkson has previously deflected from these questions in terms of officially addressing a Spider-Man cameo in Madame Web. She’s merely talked about dropping vague allusions to highlight that her titular heroine is among the many characters that emerge from the Spider-Verse lore of the comics. “She comes from that world, but she is her own character,” she told GamesRadar+ during an interview.
Marvel Studios is yet to officially board a direct on Holland’s standalone Spider-Man 4 turf. It is rumoured to start filming in the fall. Fast and Furious director Justin Lin is one of the strongest contenders in consideration for the project.