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Dakota Johnson confirms Madame Web role in Instagram Stories

See the low-key casting confirmation.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
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Jennifer Bisset Former Senior Editor / Culture
Jennifer Bisset was a senior editor for CNET. She covered film and TV news and reviews. The movie that inspired her to want a career in film is Lost in Translation. She won Best New Journalist in 2019 at the Australian IT Journalism Awards.
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Corinne Reichert
Jennifer Bisset
Dakota Johnson Spider Man Madame Web Cassandra Webb

Dakota Johnson will play Madame Web.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Deadline

Early last week, it was reported Dakota Johnson was in talks to star as Madame Web in a new Spider-Man spinoff for Sony. On Sunday, the news was confirmed by Johnson herself.

The actress posted a spider-web emoji to her Instagram Stories, the most low-key way to confirm casting news. A friendly fan account on Twitter captured the image.

Marvel character Cassandra Webb, an elderly blind woman with psychic abilities, was introduced in the Amazing Spider-Man comic books when she discovered Spider-Man's identity. She also served as a mentor to multiple Spider-Women.

While some are excited by the news, Twitter backlash saw frustration over the casting of a non-blind actor.

Madame Web is reportedly being penned by the writers of fellow Spider-Man spinoff Morbius.

Morbius, starring Jared Leto, is set to release April 1. Leto's character, Michael Morbius, is a scientist who tries to cure his rare blood disease by using bat DNA, and becomes a vampire in the process.

The latest Spider-Man movie, No Way Home, was released Dec. 17.

Sony declined to comment on Johnson's reported casting.

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