Sony’s Spider-Man Universe films, an attempt to take villains and supporting characters they have pre-MCU rights to and make them A Thing, have had at best mixed success. But since the first “Madame Web” trailer dropped, fans have latched onto star Dakota Johnson’s delivery of a line describing the movie’s villain, Ezekiel Sims.
“He was in the Amazon with my mom, when she was researching spiders, right before she died,” Johnson’s Cassandra Webb intones as part of a number of voiceover lines that don’t seem to draw much emotion from the actress. And yes, “Webb” is her character’s last name even before developing precog powers allowing her to see events before they transpire — and change them.
The text has been joined with the bashful Kevin James meme:
… George Santos’ ethics investigation:
… “Everybody Everywhere All at Once”:
… “The Godfather”:
… “Oppenheimer”:
… and a million more prior formats and new ones:
The line exceeds the exposition-riffic line from the “Morbius” trailer, “Dr. Michael Morbius, you’ve been missing for two months. Then you were found on a container ship that washed up off of Long Island.” The “Madame Web” line benefits from feeling less like one character telling another something they at least partially already know.
Of course, that “Morbius” trailer did give us other iconoic lines, like Michael Keaton’s Vulture awkwardly shouting out, “Hey uh, Dr. Mike — you and I should stay in touch.” We also get it closing with the somewhat meta joke of Morbius, in response to a scared civilian asking who he is, replying, “I… am… Venom. (growl) I’m just kidding! It’s Dr. Michael Morbius, at your service.”
Next year, Sony’s set to release three Spidey-related films: another “Venom” sequel, the delayed “Kraven the Hunter” and “Madame Web.” Be sure to put them in your calendar, alongside the date you sit and solemnly remember the guy who was in the Amazon, with your mom, researching spiders, right before she died.
Watch the line, and the rest of the trailer, below:
