5 Marvel Moments That Will Make You Respect Madame Web Again

[[{“value”:”

There are so many Spider-Man characters who have gotten massive respect and recognition as characters who can stand apart from Peter Parker. Major characters like Miles Morales and Eddie Brock have proven they can carry their own comic books. But not every character gets the respect they deserve. J. Jonah Jameson is still often flanderized into being a conspiracy nut who doesn’t care about anything but destroying Spider-Man, and Madame Web is someone no one cares about, despite the fact she’s done a lot to earn respect.

So many characters have gotten their own spin-offs and tons of respect. Miles has gotten his own video game and even stars in several movies. Venom is much the same. While he doesn’t have a video game yet, he does have a trilogy of movies under his belt. But Madame Web has yet to get the same level of respect. While she’s definitely got a movie, it really didn’t live up to her character, being only a loose adaption, and it was not well-received. This is a shame, because Madame Web did a few things that show she deserves more respect than she gets.

5

Madame Web Was Essential To Helping Spider-Man Stop Criminals

Amazing Spider-Man #210 by Dennis O’Neil, John Romita Jr, Joe Sinnott, Bob Sharen, and Jim Novak

Spider-Man is a genius, but he’s not capable of knowing everything all the time. While he’s certainly picked up some detective skills over the years, he’s far from the world’s greatest detective. This is why Madame Webb was so essential when she entered his life. With her powerful precognitive abilities, she was able to help Peter solve dozens of crimes that he simply wouldn’t have had any leads on by himself. When masked gunmen attacked the Daily Globe, Peter had no evidence to go on. No fingerprints, no names, nothing. But Madame Web was able to point him in the right direction.

Later on, in Amazing Spider-Man #216, Spider-Man was aware that an assassination was about to take place, but he had absolutely no idea where the assassins were. With time running out, he had no choice but to rely on Madame Webb, and thanks to her, he was able to quickly locate the would-be assassins, as they were exactly where she said they would be. Madame Webb wasn’t a major part of Spider-Man’s lore, but there’s no denying that she definitely had a place in Spider-Man’s supporting cast.

4

Cassandra Was Continually A Hero, Even In Her Final Moments

Prowler #4 by Sean Ryan, Javier Saltares, Jamal Campbell, Lorenzo Ruggiero, and Cory Petit

Many people want to be heroes, but when things get tough, they try to save themselves instead. It’s a natural reaction. Not everyone can be selfless all the way to the end, but Cassandra Webb has proven time and again that she’s a true hero. She has died twice, and each time, she has made sure to help someone else in her final moments. The first time she died was Amazing Spider-Man #637, when her throat was slit by the Kravinoff family. Instead of simply dying, she used her last moments to pass her powers onto Julia Carpenter, making sure that there would always be a Madame Web and that Spider-Man would still have access to someone with her precognitive abilities if he needed them.

Her second death would come in Prowler #4. This version of Cassandra Webb was a clone and one that refused to live as a slave. The clones created by the Jackal needed to continually take pills or else they’d begin to deteriorate. Cassandra refused and slowly began to die on her own terms, but before she died again, she was able to use her final moments to reveal the location of the Jackal’s hideout, making sure that Spider-Man and the rest of the heroes would be able to take down the monster responsible for the clone conspiracy. Cassandra has proven again and again that, even in her final moments, her only interests are helping others and stopping bad guys.

3

Madame Web Stopped Spider-Man From Becoming A Monster

Amazing Spider-Man #637 by Joe Kelly, Michael Lark, Marco Checchetto, Stefano Gaudiano, Matt Southworth, Brian Thies, Matt Hollingsworth, and Joe Caramagna

One of the most notable things about Spider-Man is his intense moral fiber. No matter how difficult a situation is, Spider-Man seems to always know the right thing to do. The reason for this, as revealed by the new Madame Webb, Julia Carpenter, is that Spider-Man is the literal moral fiber of the Marvel Universe. If Spider-Man ever became a killer, it would ruin the lives of everyone else on Earth. Heroes only exist in the Marvel Universe because of Spider-Man’s moral example, and without him, there wouldn’t be any heroes. Julia points out that this sense of moral responsibility is why Spider-Man is such a great hero, but the opposite would also be true.

If Spider-Man became a killer, he’d be just as effective a destroyer. His influence would corrupt everyone and the world would be ruined. While there have been plenty of times that Peter may very well have been justified in ending someone’s life, Julia points out that Peter can never cross that moral line. She even stopped him from killing Kraven at one point, despite the fact he had just murdered Cassandra Webb and definitely deserved it.

Amazing Spider-Man #678 by Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgard Delgado, and Joe Caramagna

Spider-Man is an incredibly important hero, even if he is ridiculously underappreciated. This was best shown in Amazing Spider-Man #678. While working at Horizon Labs, Spider-Man’s co-worker ends up creating a break room that immediately brings someone one day into the future. Unfortunately, this means that the person straight up skips 24 hours, not being present for them at all. While this isn’t a big deal for most people, Spider-Man discovers that when he skips ahead, he finds a completely obliterated and ruined New York City. This kicks off a race to try and figure out exactly when this disaster happened.

That’s when Madame Web comes in. As Spider-Man desperately tries to figure out how this disaster could have happened, Madame Web tries to steer him in the correct direction. While it’s true she likely could have helped more, Julia isn’t nearly as friendly as Cassandra was. When Spider-Man thinks he should go to the Avengers for help, Julia prevents him, knowing it would simply be a waste of time. In the end, Spider-Man is able to identify the threat and remove it, which Julia congratulates him on after.

1

Created The Order Of The Web

Amazing Spider-Man: The Sins Of Norman Osborn #1 by Nick Spencer, Federico Vicentini, Edgard Delgado, and Joe Caramagna

There are so many spider-related heroes in the Marvel Universe, and they’ve almost all been unified under the leadership of Madame Web at one point or another. Thanks to her powers of precognition, Madame Web realizes that Spider-Man is going to die at the hands of Norman Osborn. To prevent this, and also deal with the demon known as Kindred, Madame Web puts together a team of spider-related heroes, such as Miles, Gwen, Silk, Spider-Woman, and Arana. Together, the group faces off against Kindred and goes on to be one of the most important Multiversal defenders around.

Much later, the monster Shathra attempted to consume all spider-related heroes in the Multiverse. Naturally, the first line of defense was the Order of the Web. While it was a very difficult fight, they were eventually able to defeat Shathra and protect the Web of Life and Destiny. While Madame Web may not be the most friendly or straight-forward character around, there’s no denying her ability for leadership. Thanks to her powers of precognition and her natural skill for getting people to work together, Madame Web has proven herself to be an extremely valuable ally of Spider-Man, even if most people aren’t aware of her achievements.

“}]] Madame Web deserves a bit more respect than she gets.  Read More