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Madame Web

Madame Web is a fictional supporting character in the Spider-Man comic book series.

Fictional character biography

Cassandra Webb was born in Salem, Oregon. She is a paralyzed, blind, telepathic, clairvoyant, and precognitive mutant, allowing her to work as a professional medium. She was originally stricken with myasthenia gravis, a baffling disease that gradually erodes the central nervous system, and was connected to a life support system designed by her husband Jonathan Webb, which included a series of tubes shaped like a spider-web.

She divined Spider-Man's secret identity, and used her powers to help him locate and rescue Daily Globe publisher K.J. Clayton. She has contacted Spider-Man for assistance when Black Tom Cassidy dispatched the Juggernaut to capture her in the hope that her psychic powers would help them defeat the X-Men, only for her to nearly die after Juggernaut separated her from her life-support system and Juggernaut to subsequently be trapped in a vat of wet cement. She apparently lost her memory of Spider-Man's secret identity.

She is also the grandmother of the fourth Spider-Woman, Charlotte Witter. During the "Gathering of the Five" ceremony, Webb was restored to youth and had her myasthenia gravis cured. At one point in time Webb served as a mentor of sorts to the third Spider-Woman, the young Mattie Franklin, though Franklin has retired as of late.

Madame Web has resurfaced and her psychic powers are intact after Decimation. However, since House of M (in which she did appear young) she seems to have regained her aged appearance, though the myasthenia gravis remains gone; this could indeed be taken as an effect of Decimation.

Powers and abilities

Madame Web is a mutant that possesses psychic sensory powers including telepathy, clairvoyance, prescience, precognition, and the ability to sense the presence of psionic powers in others. She can also perform psychic surgery and appear to others in spirit (astral) form. She has a gifted intellect.

Madame Web was a victim of myasthenia gravis, a debilitating disease which erodes the central nervous system. As a result, she was an invalid entirely dependent on external life support for survival. This is no longer the case as she was cured of the condition some time ago. She is also blind. Madame Web is cybernetically linked to a spider-web-like life support chair which attends to all of her bodily needs. However since she was cured, the chair might not serve the same functions it once did.

After the Gathering of the Five ceremony, she apparently has the gift of immortality.

Other versions

Avataars

A version of Madame Web makes a brief appearance in the heroic fantasy world of Avataars: Covenant of the Shield as "the Widow of the Web", a spider-goddess who grants Webswinger (the Spider-Man parallel) his powers.

House of M

Webb also appeared during House of M as a therapist employed by S.H.I.E.L.D..

MC2

Madame Web has passed away in the MC2 universe, but her reputation has inspired an entire temple of prophetic acolytes.

Ultimate Madame Web

Madame Web has appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man. In issue #102, she is part of the psych team that plans to change Ultimate Spider-Woman's memories (who fills the role of Ben Reilly). She appears in a wheelchair (implying paralysis) and blind, similar to the classic version. However, she is younger than that version of the character.

In other media

Animated series

Madame Web appeared in the Spider-Man animated series. She was voiced by Joan Lee, the wife of the creator of Spider-Man, Stan Lee. On the cartoon she had a recurring role giving Spider-Man cryptic yet always vital advice and eventually led him to the Beyonder. Instead of being a mutant, Madame Web was a cosmic entity of great mystical power (dwarfing Doctor Strange's powers). So apparently, she had no human origin.

In the series, Web first appeared in a cameo in the third season's premiere episode, "Doctor Strange". She made a full appearance in the next episode, "Make a Wish", introducing herself and revealing her knowledge of Spider-Man's life and secret identity. In the series, her role was typically to act as cryptic adviser to Spider-Man, offering him strange clues and riddles that would ultimately help him, as well as supposedly training him for the upcoming 'Ultimate Battle'. Spider-Man's relationship with Madame Web was reluctant as he wanted to live his life autonomously, whereas she insisted he would need her knowledge for the upcoming difficulties. The pair did separate for a while, but she returned when the 'Ultimate Battle' (analogous to the Secret Wars) occurred. During this appearance, she revealed that she and the Beyonder had been testing multiple alternate Spider-Men to help resolve a crisis caused by the Spider-Carnage of an alternate universe, whose actions had led to the destruction of all reality; Madam Web and the Beyonder had managed to rewind time to stop the destruction from ever taking place, but required the aid of the Spider-Men to stop it happening again. After the Spider-Carnage had been defeated, Web briefly took Spider-Man to the real world to have a brief conversation with Stan Lee (who was stricken by her beauty, possibly an allusion to the relationship of the voice actors), and subsequently departed with him to search for Mary Jane Watson, who had vanished into a dimensional rift earlier in the series.

Appearances in the Show: 1. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter I: Doctor Strange (non-speakable cameo only) 2. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter II: Make a Wish 3. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter III: Attack of the Octobot 4. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter VIII: The Ultimate Slayer 5. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter IX: Tombstone 6. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter X: Venom Returns 7. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter XI: Carnage 8. Sins of the Fathers: Chapter XIV: Turning Point 9. The Return of Hydro-Man: Part Two 10. Secret Wars: Chapter I: Arrival 11. Secret Wars: Chapter III: Doom (non-speakable cameo only) 12. Spider Wars: Chapter I: I Really, Really Hate Clones 13. Spider Wars: Chapter II: Farewell, Spider-Man

Madam Web

"Madam (sic) Web" is also the name of a character from one of the many Hostess snack cake advertisements featuring super-heroes in the 1970s and 80's. She has web-spinning powers and is a "love crazed fiend" for Spider-Man, but ultimately prefers Twinkies.

Video games

Madame Web appears in the Spider-Man Questprobe game.
In the video game Ultimate Spider-Man, the Human Torch may mock Spider-Man during the game's races by saying, "Madame Web is faster than you, and I don't even get the reference!", an allusion to the fact that Madame Web did not exist in the Ultimate universe at that point.