Julia Carpenter: Spider-Woman II/Arachne/Madame Web Appreciation 2022

[Huntsman Spider]

I actually like Julia as Madame Web, but would not complain about her returning to Arachne. I just wish she were used more, other than in a Spider-Man book (not a fan of SM in the comics unfortunately.)

Understandable. It is hard to be a Spider-Man fan, with the crap that keeps getting slung his way by writers and editorial because they just want him to remain a certain way and not have any meaningful growth or development that they think would make him "less relatable." As for Julia, I'd like to see the Omega Flight costume she gave to Anya after Grim Hunt returned to her as well; maybe Anya did that off-panel after Julia hooked her up with the new Arana costume and Julia can start wearing the Omega Flight costume underneath that red trench coat. Oh, and I'd still love to see a "Spider-Moms" team-up between Julia and Jessica (maybe throw in Renew Your Vows Mary Jane/Spinneret if End of Spider-Verse doesn't end completely horribly for the Spider-Fam there), with Rachel Carpenter babysitting Gerry Drew, preferably alongside Jessica's niece Rebecca and getting her own spider-themed mobility-enhancing exoskeleton.

[OBrianTallent]

Understandable. It is hard to be a Spider-Man fan, with the crap that keeps getting slung his way by writers and editorial because they just want him to remain a certain way and not have any meaningful growth or development that they think would make him "less relatable." As for Julia, I'd like to see the Omega Flight costume she gave to Anya after Grim Hunt returned to her as well; maybe Anya did that off-panel after Julia hooked her up with the new Arana costume and Julia can start wearing the Omega Flight costume underneath that red trench coat. Oh, and I'd still love to see a "Spider-Moms" team-up between Julia and Jessica (maybe throw in Renew Your Vows Mary Jane/Spinneret if End of Spider-Verse doesn't end completely horribly for the Spider-Fam there), with Rachel Carpenter babysitting Gerry Drew, preferably alongside Jessica's niece Rebecca and getting her own spider-themed mobility-enhancing exoskeleton.

I could be down with that. As for the costume, while it was cool originally, just because it was so different, I would like to see some variation in it. I like the idea of her keeping the red trench coat over the top of it though. That would be a nice break for all the black and white.

[Lukmendes]

In that regard, I'd be fine with a Spider-Women Team-Up book starring Julia and Jessica. Hell, Rachel Carpenter, Julia's teenage (by now) daughter, can babysit Jessica's infant/toddler son Gerry while Jess and Julia are out on the town, or even pair up with Jessica's teenage niece Rebecca Marchand, who may or may not be able to make a spider-themed exoskeleton for her, too. That's just off the top of my head.

Jessica and Julia working together would be difficult to make it work, since the writer would need to really set 'em apart as characters so they don't look interchangeable, 'cause at the very basic they're similar lol.

Yeah, I am surprised Cassandra wasn't brought back... But even that clone of hers wasn't enough for Julia to lose her Madame Web powerset

In the Prowler tie-in to Clone Conspiracy? Julia rather explicitly doesn't have any powers there (But still has eyes like she's blind, even though she never acts like she is), not her own powers as she talks like she doesn't have super-strength, and it doesn't look like she has Madame Web's powers too (Doesn't look like she has either telepathy or precognition).

It was a weird time for her, 'cause during Spider-Verse, once Otto starts to damage the web of life, she wakes up from her coma and says she's blind, then she shows up in Daredevil vol 4 and looks like she's powerless, then she shows up in Prowler's tie-in to Clone Conspiracy and she explicitly lacks any of her powers, and then she returns in Spencer's run, and has all her powers back somehow lol.

Maybe there was a mandate at the time for her to be powerless, or the other writers interpreted her "I see nothing" line as meaning she has no powers, when it most likely just meant she lost her connection to the web of life temporarily, but she's never shown regaining it...

[seccruz]

I'd love to see Cassandra returned young again, and I'd love to see Charlotte Witter take on the Hostess Fruit Pies Madame Webb costume.

Julia needs that second costume back, the one from Omega Flight.

Or her original one. Both were solid designs!

[seccruz]

Jessica and Julia working together would be difficult to make it work, since the writer would need to really set 'em apart as characters so they don't look interchangeable, 'cause at the very basic they're similar lol.



In the Prowler tie-in to Clone Conspiracy? Julia rather explicitly doesn't have any powers there (But still has eyes like she's blind, even though she never acts like she is), not her own powers as she talks like she doesn't have super-strength, and it doesn't look like she has Madame Web's powers too (Doesn't look like she has either telepathy or precognition).

It was a weird time for her, 'cause during Spider-Verse, once Otto starts to damage the web of life, she wakes up from her coma and says she's blind, then she shows up in Daredevil vol 4 and looks like she's powerless, then she shows up in Prowler's tie-in to Clone Conspiracy and she explicitly lacks any of her powers, and then she returns in Spencer's run, and has all her powers back somehow lol.

Maybe there was a mandate at the time for her to be powerless, or the other writers interpreted her "I see nothing" line as meaning she has no powers, when it most likely just meant she lost her connection to the web of life temporarily, but she's never shown regaining it...

Yeah. They need to make up their damn minds. When Cassandra gave Julia her powers, I saw it as adding to her own powerset, not taking away...

[Thirteen]

I could be down with that. As for the costume, while it was cool originally, just because it was so different, I would like to see some variation in it. I like the idea of her keeping the red trench coat over the top of it though. That would be a nice break for all the black and white.

Give it a little bit of a red tint under the trench and there ya go...

[Lukmendes]

Or her original one. Both were solid designs!

It's better to avoid the original design 'cause the spider is so heavily associated with Venom, specially since she has the Arachne as an alternative, which's just close enough to the idea of the original, but isn't that similar to the Venom symbiote one.

I wonder if Marvel has even noticed the plot holes around the spider emblem Venom has with Julia's, since some stories have shown that Venom had it even before Spidey got him, and Cates' Venom run did show that the emblem is a modified version of Knull's dragon symbol, so Julia's costume just happens to be similar to both with no explanation lol.

Yeah. They need to make up their damn minds. When Cassandra gave Julia her powers, I saw it as adding to her own powerset, not taking away...

Yeah, it was generally understood she has both sets of powers after she became Madame Web (Or at least, Slott did, considering he clearly showed her with spider-powers in Spider-Island), the problem was post Spider-Verse having her show up and lack any power lol.

The **** around Clone Conspiracy is just weird though, at best I've seen people excusing her lack of powers because Cassandra came back, but there are two problems with that theory, first is that, Julia should suspect why she lost her powers even if she's not aware of Cassandra's return, and in that story she doesn't have powers and talks like there's nothing wrong with that, and second, she shouldn't have lost her Spider-Woman powers to begin with, even back when Otto was ripping the Web of Life, at worst that should make her Madame Web powers be gone or weakened, but she shouldn't have lost everything 'cause no other spider did lol.

Basically it was a mess back then, maybe editorial wanted her to be powerless, or maybe Mark Waid in Daredevil vol 4 made a mistake, a mistake Prowler's tie-in to Clone Conspiracy continued, as that comic directly mentions Waid's Daredevil, since it mentions Julia has been using the tech Shroud was using back then.

Oh well, at least she's not powerless anymore, kinda funny she inexplicably got her powers back just as inexplicably they were gone.

[Thirteen]

Interesting balance between psychic and action hero in the ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN animated series. I haven't seen much of it...



Sydney Sweeney reportedly portraying Julia Carpenter in the MADAME WEB movie from Sony.

A movie with a "unique" plot and cast.

[Sutekh]

Agreed. Always thought Julia's version of Spider-Woman to be quite unique. Those "Psi-Webs" had so much potential (IMHO):

I really liked the idea that she was not just a female Spider-Man, or 'Spider-Man, plus some other powers, too, like organic webs or stingers or blasts. The Psi-Webs served as a web-attack, a means of transportation, and allowed her to cling to stuff, which constitutes at least a decent percentage of Spider-Man's theme, without having a half-dozen mostly unrelated powers, just the one.

And it could evolve and develop in other ways, making it even more distinctive, say, if she could retain a psychic link to her psi-webs and use them to spy on an area, or move them individually, making a stationary web sort of spring up and around someone, or a 'web-line' wrap around someone like a snake, or even exhibit some moderate superhuman strength, not in her own body, but in her psychic webs, so that a web-strand might be able to lash out and grab a motorcycle and fling it through the air, even if she could not herself lift said motorcycle. Tons of options, and not even necessary, since her Psi-Webs as already shown are pretty darn useful (and put her a cut above heroes like Hawkeye or Black Widow, who manage to operate as heroes without *any* any powers).

I always have a soft spot for a character with a single (preferably versatile!) power, rather than one with a bunch of powers that might not be as tightly thematically connected, and it was particularly cool to see a 'Spider-Person' who had *less* powers than Spider-Man, since the general practice is that the new character must be *more, more, more*, having all of the powers of the original, but be stronger, or have even more powers (like Silk's organic webbing or Kaine's spider-summoning and poison wrist-stingers, or Miles' invisibility and zaps). It feels like avoiding the trope of power inflation, while also making the character more easily challenged. Not having the perfect suite of powers for every situation, they have to get by on their wits and creativity, and it feels more like they earn their victories, to me, than someone who has a half-dozen or more discrete options and it seems like in any situation, it isn't 'oh my, how are they going to get out of this one?' but 'I wonder why they didn't do one of the three things we've seen them do before to deal with this so-called challenge?'

[Huntsman Spider]

I really liked the idea that she was not just a female Spider-Man, or 'Spider-Man, plus some other powers, too, like organic webs or stingers or blasts. The Psi-Webs served as a web-attack, a means of transportation, and allowed her to cling to stuff, which constitutes at least a decent percentage of Spider-Man's theme, without having a half-dozen mostly unrelated powers, just the one.

And it could evolve and develop in other ways, making it even more distinctive, say, if she could retain a psychic link to her psi-webs and use them to spy on an area, or move them individually, making a stationary web sort of spring up and around someone, or a 'web-line' wrap around someone like a snake, or even exhibit some moderate superhuman strength, not in her own body, but in her psychic webs, so that a web-strand might be able to lash out and grab a motorcycle and fling it through the air, even if she could not herself lift said motorcycle. Tons of options, and not even necessary, since her Psi-Webs as already shown are pretty darn useful (and put her a cut above heroes like Hawkeye or Black Widow, who manage to operate as heroes without *any* any powers).

I always have a soft spot for a character with a single (preferably versatile!) power, rather than one with a bunch of powers that might not be as tightly thematically connected, and it was particularly cool to see a 'Spider-Person' who had *less* powers than Spider-Man, since the general practice is that the new character must be *more, more, more*, having all of the powers of the original, but be stronger, or have even more powers (like Silk's organic webbing or Kaine's spider-summoning and poison wrist-stingers, or Miles' invisibility and zaps). It feels like avoiding the trope of power inflation, while also making the character more easily challenged. Not having the perfect suite of powers for every situation, they have to get by on their wits and creativity, and it feels more like they earn their victories, to me, than someone who has a half-dozen or more discrete options and it seems like in any situation, it isn't 'oh my, how are they going to get out of this one?' but 'I wonder why they didn't do one of the three things we've seen them do before to deal with this so-called challenge?'

Yeah, I like your description and writeup there. Hell, I've had the theory for a while that Julia's spider-strength and speed/agility, as well as her durability, could come from her Psi-Webs, making them into a kind of (invisible) psionic exoskeleton to enhance her physical strength and mobility to superhuman levels. Not to mention that in the beginning of Grim Hunt, it was revealed that her Psi-Webs could be invisibly strewn through her environs to detect threats and dangers around her, like a real spider's webs vibrating when potential prey (or predators) happened upon them, basically a more functionally accurate version of Spider-Man's spider-sense.

[Chris0013]

I don't think Julia needs a regular series or put on a team on a regular basis. But she does need s presence showing up throughout 616 every year or two in a book for someone beside Peter or Spider characters.

I also think they need to acknowledge Julia's child care situation. She has a daughter who was 9 during Civil War. And in universe it has not been that many years. I get time is pretty fluid in universe...but in the recent U.S. Agent LS John Walker's sister says their parents died 6 years ago. That is during the time John was Cap.

[K7P5V]

All things considered, this would be an excellent opportunity to bring back the team with the ever-revolving door membership known as...

The Secret Defenders

[Sutekh]

Yeah, I like your description and writeup there. Hell, I've had the theory for a while that Julia's spider-strength and speed/agility, as well as her durability, could come from her Psi-Webs, making them into a kind of (invisible) psionic exoskeleton to enhance her physical strength and mobility to superhuman levels. Not to mention that in the beginning of Grim Hunt, it was revealed that her Psi-Webs could be invisibly strewn through her environs to detect threats and dangers around her, like a real spider's webs vibrating when potential prey (or predators) happened upon them, basically a more functionally accurate version of Spider-Man's spider-sense.

Ooh, that last bit, laying a nearly invisible series of web-strands around the ground/floor in an area, so that she can 'feel' where anyone is walking remotely, was very much one of my thoughts (making her, as you say, perfectly mimic how some spiders operate, only with her psychic webbing).

But the idea of weaving her psi-webbing around herself as a form of woven armor, is genius (and, again, is something that Spider-Man doesn't do, so it just further differentiates her from him)!

[seccruz]

It's better to avoid the original design 'cause the spider is so heavily associated with Venom, specially since she has the Arachne as an alternative, which's just close enough to the idea of the original, but isn't that similar to the Venom symbiote one.

I wonder if Marvel has even noticed the plot holes around the spider emblem Venom has with Julia's, since some stories have shown that Venom had it even before Spidey got him, and Cates' Venom run did show that the emblem is a modified version of Knull's dragon symbol, so Julia's costume just happens to be similar to both with no explanation lol.



Yeah, it was generally understood she has both sets of powers after she became Madame Web (Or at least, Slott did, considering he clearly showed her with spider-powers in Spider-Island), the problem was post Spider-Verse having her show up and lack any power lol.

The **** around Clone Conspiracy is just weird though, at best I've seen people excusing her lack of powers because Cassandra came back, but there are two problems with that theory, first is that, Julia should suspect why she lost her powers even if she's not aware of Cassandra's return, and in that story she doesn't have powers and talks like there's nothing wrong with that, and second, she shouldn't have lost her Spider-Woman powers to begin with, even back when Otto was ripping the Web of Life, at worst that should make her Madame Web powers be gone or weakened, but she shouldn't have lost everything 'cause no other spider did lol.

Basically it was a mess back then, maybe editorial wanted her to be powerless, or maybe Mark Waid in Daredevil vol 4 made a mistake, a mistake Prowler's tie-in to Clone Conspiracy continued, as that comic directly mentions Waid's Daredevil, since it mentions Julia has been using the tech Shroud was using back then.

Oh well, at least she's not powerless anymore, kinda funny she inexplicably got her powers back just as inexplicably they were gone.

And yet, she had the look before the symbiote thought of it...

[Huntsman Spider]

I don't think Julia needs a regular series or put on a team on a regular basis. But she does need s presence showing up throughout 616 every year or two in a book for someone beside Peter or Spider characters.

I also think they need to acknowledge Julia's child care situation. She has a daughter who was 9 during Civil War. And in universe it has not been that many years. I get time is pretty fluid in universe...but in the recent U.S. Agent LS John Walker's sister says their parents died 6 years ago. That is during the time John was Cap.

Very good point there. Given that Rachel Carpenter ought to at least be in her early teens by now, I could see her in Midtown High running into Dylan Brock between the end of Donny Cates's Venom and the start of Al Ewing and Ram V's Venom.

All things considered, this would be an excellent opportunity to bring back the team with the ever-revolving door membership known as...

The Secret Defenders

Secret Defenders would be great, and given that Julia is Madame Web now and for the foreseeable future, I could see her assembling a new team in place of Doctor Strange (R.I.P.).

Ooh, that last bit, laying a nearly invisible series of web-strands around the ground/floor in an area, so that she can 'feel' where anyone is walking remotely, was very much one of my thoughts (making her, as you say, perfectly mimic how some spiders operate, only with her psychic webbing).

But the idea of weaving her psi-webbing around herself as a form of woven armor, is genius (and, again, is something that Spider-Man doesn't do, so it just further differentiates her from him)!

Thanks. I'm glad you like those ideas.

And yet, she had the look before the symbiote thought of it...

Very true. Hell, the original story was that Spidey thought her costume was so cool and badass that the symbiote responded to his thoughts by mimicking it when it bonded with him to form his new costume.