Spider-Man has never had many long-term sidekicks, but he does have partners and associates with similar powers, abilities, and or histories who fight crime under similar monikers. While some have more distinctive secret identities,many of his female companions have used the name “Spider-Woman”for various lengths of time. While every Spider-Woman has their own unique qualities, a few stand out as more significant and distinctive in Marvel history. With two of them set to make their live action debuts inMadame Web, now is the time to untangle Spider-Woman’s complicated history.
Madame Web
Cassandra Webb is a New York City paramedic who starts to show signs of clairvoyance. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she must protect three young women from a mysterious adversary who wants them dead.
Jessica Drew Is the Original Spider-Woman
Created byArchie GoodwinandMarie Severin, the original Spider-Woman, who was later given the civilian nameJessica Drew, first appeared inMarvel Spotlight#32in 1977, before headlining her own series. Goodwin portrayed Jessica as a spider that had evolved into a human being, butMarv Wolfman, who served as the initial writer of theSpider-Womansolo comic, retconned this. Wolfman’s version of Jessica’s origin presented her as a human girl who became ill due to exposure to uranium. Her father, a scientist associated withthe High Evolutionary, treated her with a serum derived from the blood of an irradiated spider, which also gave her superhuman abilities.
Jessica was subsequently abducted and brainwashed byHydrato serve as a super-powered assassin. Hydra’s mental manipulations resulted in her having memories of being an evolved spider to account for Goodwin’s origin. Her backstory was rewritten again when the character had a resurgence in popularity due toBrian Michael Bendis’ use of her in the Avengers franchise.Bendis co-wrote the aptly titledSpider-Woman: Originminiserieswhich established that Jessica’s powers resulted from her mother being affected by a specialized laser she and Jessica’s father were working on while the former was pregnant.Originalso simplified Jessica’s connection to Hydra by having her parents work directly for the organization.
Spider-Woman Led to Jessica Jones
After breaking free from Hydra’s influence,Jessica remains in the Spider-Woman identitybut uses it to fight crime.She has often worked as a private investigator, both in addition to and sometimes in place of being a superhero. Because of this, Bendis initially planned to use Jessica as the protagonist of his comic book seriesAlias, which told noir detective stories in the Marvel Universe, before ultimately creating the character ofJessica Jonesinstead. However, Jessica Drew did guest star inAlias, encountering Jones. Although she fought alongside him on various occasions,Jessica was not closely related to Peter Parker/Spider-Man until they were both recruited onto the initial roster of the New Avengers. TheSecret Invasionevent revealed that, starting some time prior to the formation of the team, Jessica had been replaced by an impostor, Veranke, queen of the shape-shifting aliens the Skrulls. After Earth’s heroes repelled the Skrull invasion, the real Jessica, who had been held captive, was found along with other abductees. She subsequently maintained Veranke’s place on the New Avengers but faced suspicion from various members of the superhero community.
Even though the Jessica who appeared in a significant portion of Bendis’ Avengers stories wasn’t really her, they still led to increased popularity for the character, who has since been featured in various solo titles, maintained ties with the Avengers, andbecome a more central part of the Spider-Man comic book franchise. A particularly popular arc inSpider-Womansaw her continuing to fight crime while pregnant, before she gave birth to her son, Gerry.Joan Van Arkvoiced Jessica in a short-lived animatedSpider-Womanseries that premiered in 1979 and a pregnant version of the character referred to as “Jess Drew” appeared in the 2023 filmSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, voiced byIssa Rae. In the film, Jess serves as the second-in-command of Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099’s (Oscar Isaac) Spider-Society team that protects the multiverse. Actress and directorOlivia Wildewas attachedto develop a movie many suspected would be a Spider-Woman live action film, but the current status of the project is uncertain.
Julia Carpenter Was the First Spider-Woman To Join the Avengers
The second major Spider-Woman,Julia Carpenter, was created byJim ShooterandMike Zeckand first appeared inMarvel Superheroes Secret Wars#6 in 1984. She was involved in the conflict between armies of superheroes and supervillains the Beyonder arranged on Battleworld. Later appearances revealed the character’s origin story. Julia was tricked into participating in an experiment meant to create a super-soldier by her college friend Valerie “Val” Cooper, who worked as a government agent. After being injected with spider venom and extracts from several exotic plants,Julia gained superhuman powers similar to Spider-Man’s.
Who Is Madame Web, the First Female Superhero in Sony’s Spider-Verse?
Dakota Johnson, this is Marvel. Marvel, meet Dakota.
Julia appeared as a main character in the 1994Iron Mananimated series, voiced byCasey DeFrancoandJennifer Hale. As Spider-Woman, she serves as a member of the superhero team Force Works, also becoming romantically involved with Tony Stark (Robert Hays). As Madame Web, the character also appeared inUltimate Spider-Man.A character that is presumably Julia and wears one of her distinctive costumes can be seen among the Spider-SocietyinAcross the Spider-Verse.Sydney Sweeneyplays the first live action version of the character inMadame Web.
Mattie Franklin Gains Madame Web’s Powers
Created byJohn ByrneandRafael Kayanan, the third heroic Spider-Woman,Mattie Franklin, had a fairly dark history. When she is a teenager, Mattie overhears her father, Jerry, planning to take part in The Gathering of Five, a cultish ritual whose participants, including Norman Osborn, hope to attain mysterious powers.Mattie replaces her father in the ritual and gains superhuman physical abilities as well as the power of flight.During a period when Peter Parker had retired from being Spider-Man, Mattie, a big fan of the hero’s, dons a similar costume to his and replaces him. When Peter becomes Spider-Man again, she takes on the Spider-Woman identity. During a conflict with Charlotte Witter, a supervillain who also uses the name Spider-Woman, Mattie temporarily loses her powers. When she regains them, she also receives the combined abilities of Witter, the two previous Spider-Women, and Madame Web. Frustrated at her relationship with her father, Mattie eventually moves in with her aunt Marla,who is married to Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson.
One of Mattie’s most notable appearances came during a disturbing storyline inAlias. After going missing, Mattie encounters Jessica Jones, who subsequently discovers that she was drugged and abducted by a man she had gone on a date with, who was now using genetic material from her to create Mutant Growth Hormone, a drug that grants users temporary superpowers, as well as using Mattie herself as a prostitute. Working with Jessica Drew, Jones rescues Mattie and returns her to Jameson, after which Mattie enters counseling to deal with her resulting dependence on drugs.Mattie follows in Jessica’s footsteps by starting a career as a private investigator, though she is later murderedby Anya Kravinoff, daughter ofKraven the Hunter. Like Julia, a character that resembles Mattie appears inAcross the Spider-Verse, and the character is also being brought to live action inMadame Web, played byCeleste O’Connor.
Spider-Gwen Is a Current Marvel Fan-Favorite
One of the more recent additions to the plethora of Spider-Women has come to rival, if not outright surpass Jessica as the most recognizable and popular version of the character. Created byJason LatourandRobbi Rodriguez,Spider-Gwenwas introduced in 2014 during theSpider-Versecomic book event. She is a variant of Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s famously doomed love interest, from Earth-65, who was bitten by a radioactive spider like the main universe Peter. Although most often referred to as “Spider-Gwen” by fans, within the world of the story Gwen is known as her universe’s Spider-Woman, though she has also used the code name “Ghost-Spider." Feeling powerless after a lifetime of being bullied, the Earth-65 Peter used his scientific expertise to experiment on himself, turning himself into a version of supervillain the Lizard.In their final battle, Gwen, who did not yet know her friend Peter was the Lizard, is forced to kill him to protect civilians. As he dies, Peter returns to his human form and Gwen’s father, Police Captain George Stacy, begins hunting Spider-Woman, hoping to apprehend her for murder. But after Gwen reveals her identity to him, the pair eventually begin to mend their relationship.
The character’s popularity has led her to lead multiple comic book series that developthe world of Earth-65, though she also frequently appears in crossover stories involving the multiverse and other heroes. Due to arcs like these, she has developed close relationships with other Spider-Man-related characters, especially Jessica Drew, who serves as a mentor figure to her,and Miles Morales, with whom she briefly explored the possibility of a romance.Spider-Gwen has appeared in an assortment of animated projects, the most prominent of which are the Spider-Verse films, in which she is voiced byHailee Steinfeld. After a supporting role inSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the character was made a co-lead ofAcross the Spider-Versealong with Miles (Shameik Moore). The films follow Gwen’s comic book origin closely, adapting Peter’s (Jack Quaid) death and the resulting tension with George (Shea Whigham). Gwen joining the Spider-Society as she does at the beginning ofAcross the Spider-Versesets her on a somewhat different trajectory from her comic book counterpart, although it also allows the mentor/student relationship with Jess to be adapted and for her relationship with Miles to continue to be explored.
At the end of the film, a schism emerges between Gwen and Jessafter the former’s feelings for Miles lead her to defy orders, which in turn leads Miguel to kick her out of the Society, a decision Jess reluctantly supports. Gwen subsequently forms her own team of heroes to rescue Miles, who is stranded in the wrong universe, possibly setting her and Jess up for further conflict in the upcoming third film,Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. The commercial success and critical acclaim of the Spider-Verse films has led to even greater popularity for Spider-Gwen, with many fans hoping that either Steinfeld orEmma Stone, who portrayed a non-powered Gwen inThe Amazing Spider-Manfilms, will get to bring the character to live action.
Spider-Woman Has an Impressive Legacy
In addition to Witter and the four heroic Spider-Women listed, there have been an assortment of more obscure versions of the character throughout Marvel history. The Ultimate Marvel universe has its own Jessica Drew, a female clone ofPeter Parker, and variants of Mary Jane Watson have taken on the Spider-Woman mantle in several alternate universes, to name just a few examples. But with the Spider-Verse films andMadame Webraising the profiles of Jessica, Gwen, Julia, and Mattie, they will likely remain the four most prominent iterations for some time.
Madame Webis in theaters February 14 in the U.S.
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