Spider-Man has many interesting allies that share his spider-theme. From several Spider-Women to his many clones, and even the newly popular Miles Morales, there is no shortage of spider-people to choose from. Among these many spider-characters is the mysterious Madame Web, who was at one point a major part of Peter Parker's life.

Often serving as a spiritual guide and advice giver for Spider-Man, Madame Web often warned Peter of oncoming threats to look out for. Given her mysterious nature, some Spider-Man fans know very little about Madame Web. Now that she'll star in her own movie, Madame Web is once again in the franchise's limelight.

Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on February 5, 2024: Madame Web has been a part of Spider-Man's world for decades, and she's now making the jump to the big screen. While there will definitely be some changes in the transition, the core elements of the character remain intact. Those who are unfamiliar with the character will want to know more about her before she debuts in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, making the basics on Madame Web more important than ever.

10 Madame Web Is a Mutant

While other Spider-Heroes such as Miles Morales, Spider-Woman, and Spider-Man all got their powers from external places, Madame Web was born with her gifts. Said abilities include precognition and other forms of clairvoyance, allowing her to see the future.

The reason for these powers is that Madame Web is a mutant. Born with the X-gene, her powers have nothing to do with radioactive spiders or anything of the sort. This genetic status has led her to conflict with other members of the mutant community, including the criminal Black Tom Cassidy and the powerful "mutant-adjacent" Juggernaut.

9 Madame Web Can Use Astral Projection

A power used by mystics such as Doctor Strange and telepaths like Charles Xavier, astral projection is one of the most useful abilities to have in the Marvel universe. Much like those other aforementioned characters, Madame Web can astral project herself.

Along with her apparent precognition, having abilities like astral projection might help explain how Madame Web always seems to know everything. Using this ability, she can spy on whoever she wants, no matter how far away that person might be.

8 Madame Web Can Transfer Her Mutation

When it comes to genetic mutation in the Marvel Universe, it's generally believed that mutants are born with and then die with their abilities. Madame Web disproved this during her final act in the "Grim Hunt" storyline. When the Kravinoff family kidnapped Madame Web, hoping to torture her for information, she knew she didn't have much longer to live.

Just before her death, the precognitive mutant transferred all of her powers, and her blindness, to the former Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter. Carpenter has since taken on the same role that Madame Web had long inhabited, watching over the world and warning Spider-Man and his allies whenever impending doom is knocking at the door. To this end, Carpenter has acted in the role of Madame Web in the most recent Spider-Man stories.

7 Madame Web Has a Real-Life Disease

Blindness wasn't the only condition Madame Web lived with. The powerful mutant was also born with myasthenia gravis, a particular neuromuscular disease that can make it difficult or impossible for people to walk. Fortunately for Julia Carpenter, blindness was the only condition passed on when Madame Web transferred her powers.

This disease often left Madame Web vulnerable to attack. Without the ability to run, it was contingent for her safety that her location remained a secret. On occasions where her enemies discovered her, Madame Web had to rely on a last-minute rescue from one of the many Spider-heroes she aligned herself with.

6 Madame Web Knew Spider-Man's Identity

After one of their first encounters, Madame Web deduced Spider-Man's identity. Rather than keeping this secret to herself, Web let the Wall-Crawler know that she's aware of who he is. As with many changes to comic book status quo, however, Marvel eventually did away with this plot thread.

On one occasion, the villain Juggernaut arrived at Madame Web's location hoping to kidnap her so that he and Black Tom Cassidy could use her powers against the X-Men. When Spider-Man arrived, he narrowly defeated Juggernaut and saved the day. The massive shock that Madame Web suffered from the experience apparently removed her memory of Peter Parker's identity.

5 Madame Web Has a Life Support System

Because of having myasthenia gravis, Madame Web essentially lives within a large chair that doubles as her life support system. A bit of an inventor, Web's husband, Jonathan Webb, developed the chair specifically to help her. Due to their last name, he designed it with an assortment of tubes shaped like the web of a spider.

When separated from this chair, the benevolent clairvoyant becomes weak and could eventually die. This has limited Madame Web's endeavors in the past, especially when villains intentionally keep her from the chair. In many ways, it represents her connection to the wider Spider-Verse and the web of life itself.

4 Madame Web Is the Grandmother of Charlotte Witter

The fourth woman to use the alias Spider-Woman, Charlotte Witter was the first Spider-Woman who chose to be a supervillain. A black market dealer, Charlotte came across the likes of Doctor Octopus. Otto Octavius promptly experimented on Witter, turning her into a human/spider hybrid with the ability to absorb the powers of other Spider-Women.

Knowing she needed help in defeating her granddaughter, Madame Web enlisted the help of another Spider-Woman named Mattie Franklin. Eventually, Mattie defeated Charlotte and restored power to the various Spider-Women. This event cemented the connection between not just Madame Web and Spider-Man, but the other spider-based heroes.

3 Madame Web Once Had Her Youth Restored

In a very strange series of events, Madame Web cured her disease and acquired a much more youthful body. Participating in an arcane ritual known as the "Gathering of Five," Madame Web gained this new appearance and the apparent power of immortality. This was due to a mix-up in the ceremony, where the participants received "gifts" that they didn't expect.

Although this remained Madame Web's status quo for several years, it wasn't meant to be. After the events of Decimation, she regained her old appearance. Fortunately for the mutant telepath, she retained her psychic powers. Likewise, while Web regained her age, her disease remained permanently cured.

2 Madame Web Was Cloned

Following the Jackal's return (who actually turned out to be a resurrected Ben Reilly), a new clone conspiracy began that involved many of Spider-Man's former enemies and allies. Peter Parker's many acquaintances who had passed away seemingly came back to life, now working for the Jackal. Among the Jackal's resurrected lackeys was none other than Madame Web herself.

Readers learned towards the end of the story that these resurrected characters were actually clones. After suffering severe injuries from the villain Electro, Web decided she'd rather die than be a part of the horrible, upcoming future. This story marked Web's final appearance, but she did give her successor a message before dying.

1 Madame Web Inspired A Cult

In the alternate timeline MC2 universe, Madame Web has been long dead. Since her passing, however, a new cult has formed for the purpose of worshiping the former Spider-Man ally.

The cult has erected an entire temple in honor of Madame Web. Within the temple are several acolytes, all claiming to have the same precognitive abilities that Web used over the course of her career. This world came about after the end of a divergent Clone Saga (and also involved a married Peter Parker and Mary Jane), making it quite distinct from the mainstream 616 universe.