Madame Web won’t have a post-credits scene, so Marvel fans could at least forgive some of the movie’s sins. You won’t be graced with any cameos of any famous characters or comic book references.
But even where there could have been a little twist and tease – it will never happen. And we don’t know why. Yes, Sony is trying to develop its own Spider-Man universe that doesn’t have Spider-Man as part of the MCU. But as far as I understand it, there was no legal impediment to mentioning a future Spider-Man, i.e., Peter Parker, in the Madame Web movie.
This movie could have rewarded us, albeit with a trifling but still essential reference that would have pleased some fans. Probably, many would have come to resent it, saying that “the movie is just parasitizing on references to surprise us.” But I think a lot of people would have liked the reference. And it also would have made the movie a little more meaningful, adding an overall spider context to everything we see on screen.
What’s the point?
Ben Parker and his sister, Mary Parker, appear in the movie. If you’re unfamiliar with Spider-Man and the comics, Mary Parker is the mother of Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man. In the movie, she is pregnant, so we can assume it is the yet-to-be-born Peter Parker. But there is no hint of this in the movie, and no one even once suggests the unborn child’s name. This could be put down to the timeline not matching up. And really, for none of the existing universes, the age of the supposed Peter Parker of Madame Web would not have matched. He’s too young for the older universes with Spider-Man and would be too young for the existing and currently active universe with Tom Holland as well because that one is supposed to be 15 years old in 2016.
But since we know that the Madame Web universe and the Tom Holland spider universe don’t overlap and are two different universes, why not just play with the audience by giving them an easter egg like this? Especially since Mary Parker isn’t just Peter Parker’s mother, and in the comics, she has her own extensive backstory that could be used in movies that revolve around Spider-Man but don’t show it. This could have been an excellent groundwork to keep the viewer interested, but Madame Web misses the opportunity.
As a result, we get cameos for the sake of cameos, and Mary Parker literally has no plot role, being a reference in and of herself. And it doesn’t do any good to the movie, which is already struggling with an incoherent plot in which none of the exciting lines get a sequel or at least some meaningful reference. Dakota Johnson said in an interview with The Wrap, “The movie’s original script has been substantially reworked.” And maybe that’s where the problem lies, and the line with the Parkers should have made much more sense. But that doesn’t matter now.
