American Horror Story star Emma Roberts is the latest addition to the cast of the upcoming superhero film Madame Web, headlined by Dakota Johnson.
The film hails from Sony Pictures which is developing multiple projects to expand its Spider-Man universe, billed as the Sony Universe of Marvel Characters.
According to Deadline, the details about Roberts' role in the film, her first superhero movie, are under wraps.
Madame Web is believed to be an origin story for one of Spider-Man's mentors who, at least in the comics and in the cartoon, never actively fights anyone herself. Throughout her depictions, she's shown as an elderly woman suffering from myasthenia gravis, leaving her hooked up to a "web" of life support machines. However, her years of experience and clairvoyant abilities were a boon to Spider-Man. For this reason, the film is expected to make some adjustments for a more entertaining story, either showing her beginnings or changing the character altogether. According to Deadline, insiders say that it's likely she'll act as the Doctor Strange of Sony's Marvel universe given the similarities in their abilities.
S J Clarkson, who has previously worked on the Marvel series Jessica Jones and The Defenders, is directing the film.
Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless of Morbius, also part of Sony's Spider-Man universe, will write the screenplay. A previous draft of the film was also written by Kerem Sanga.
Roberts has a slew of films on the way in the near future with her just finishing production on the rom-com About Fate. She's best known for her roles in horror, however, becoming a mainstay on American Horror Story for several seasons while also appearing in Scream Queens for FOX. On the film side, she appeared in Scream 4, and she has the upcoming horror film Abandoned to look forward to which features her alongside Michael Shannon and John Gallagher Jr. She's also taken cracks at production with a credit for the Netflix hit series First Kill.
The film is scheduled to be released in theatres on July 7, 2023.
