Cassandra Webb, Salem's only comic book superhero, is getting her own movie

This story was updated on Feb. 15

Salem’s only comic book superhero is getting her own movie.

The movie version of Cassandra Webb, played by Dakota Johnson, opened in theaters on Feb. 14. Madame Web is a supporting character to Spider-Man in the Marvel comics.

She’s never had her own comic book, and she’s usually seen as an elderly paralyzed blind woman connected to a web of tubes and a machine that keep her alive.

In trailers for the movie, Cassie Webb is a paramedic in New York.

“She’s not a very popular, well-known character,” said Tony Grove, owner of Tony’s Kingdom of Comics and Collectibles in Keizer. “She’s been around for a long time, but she hasn’t done anything outstanding that Spider-Man fans are crazy about.”

Madame Web comic book origin story

The Madame Web character, Cassandra Webb, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man 210, which was published in 1980. She was created by writer Denny O’Neil and artist John Romita Jr.

It wasn’t until The Amazing Spider-Man 600, published in 2009, that it was revealed Webb is from Salem.

“Why did I come here?” she says. “Of all the places … at all times … why here? That’s not a difficult question to answer, is it, you old fool? Where else does one go when there is no one left in the world they love or who loves them?

“The forgotten always return home … always to find that sanctuary long empty, long dead.”

It was the only mention of her origin, and the Madame Web movie has no references to Webb being from Salem.

While Webb being from Salem is not a long-established part of comic book lore, "if you live in Salem and you’re a comic book fan, you read that, you’re like, hey, all right, they gave us a shout out,” Grove said.

Movie adaptation of Madame Web

Madame Web went into development in 2019 when Morbius screenwriters Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless were hired to write it.

“It's really the story of Madame Web,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said, in an interview with comicbook.com. “So, in that respect, if you’re a Spider-Man fan, you're gonna love the character because ... she doesn't really have that big a character in the comic books. We're doing the origin story of Madame Web."

Dakota Johnson said Madame Web is a dynamic character.

“When you first meet Cassie, she is a paramedic in New York City who doesn’t let people in. Then things take quite the turn," Johnson said. "When Cassie begins to experience her clairvoyance, she thinks she’s losing her mind.”

Movie studios frequently change things when it comes to adapting comic books for the big screen.

So the movie version of Cassandra Webb, filmed in Boston, could be from New York, somewhere else or nowhere.

“You never know they’re going to try to come up with and what they do, but nobody knew who the hell Guardians of the Galaxy were and look how popular that was,” Grove said.

Madame Web is one of three Sony Spider-Man universe movies that are coming to big screens this year.

Kraven the Hunter is scheduled to be released Aug. 30, and Venom 3 is scheduled for Nov. 8.

Reach Bill Poehler at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Madame Web is from Salem, Oregon, in Spider-Man comic books