Madame Web is a mysterious observer and helper for Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man. Much of her history is shrouded in mystery, but her intent always seems to be serving a grander purpose. Thankfully, that purpose usually involves aiding Spider-Man to both survive and save the day.
Madame Web reached greater popularity outside the Marvel Comics readership thanks to her appearance in the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, and Dakota Johnson is in talks to appear as the character in a movie. However, the series did little to illuminate further who or what Madame Web actually is. Thankfully, the comics do offer a few factoids that the hardcore Spider-Man and Marvel Comics readers can share with the wider Spider-Man-loving public.
7 She Was Born With A Rare Neurological Condition
Madame Cassandra Web first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #210 in 1980, and she was created by Dennis O'Neil and John Romita Jr. She was born Cassandra Webb and had a rare neurological condition known as "myasthenia gravis" (which is a real condition). She was blind, and her body was attacking her own muscles.
Cassandra lucked out by tapping into a mystical force that granted her telepathy, clairvoyance, and a connection to the astral plane. She became a professional medium, and this would lead to her first encounter with Spider-Man.
6 She Was Once Almost Killed By The Unstoppable Juggernaut
An unknown party hired the notorious X-Men villains known as the Unstoppable Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy to hunt down and kidnap Madame Web. Spider-Man spotted the Juggernaut on his rampage throughout the city and tried everything in his power to stop the villain. Unfortunately, the Wall-Crawler could barely slow the Juggernaut down.
Juggernaut found Web and picked her up, but this disconnected her from the life support system built into her chair. She began to die, and Juggernaut left her there since this meant he would not be able to complete his job. Spider-Man barely got Madame Web to the hospital in time to save her life. Spidey ended up finally beating the Juggernaut by letting him bury himself in wet cement.
5 She Participated In An Occult Ritual With Norman Osborn
One of the strangest notes in the Spider-Man story is another one that involved Madame Web. A clandestine group calling itself "The Five" gathered for an occult ritual to grant themselves gifts. This involved Madame Web, Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin), Mattie Franklin (adopted daughter of J. Jonah Jameson and future Spider-Woman), Gregory Herd (who would become a villain called Override), and Morris Maxwell (an antique dealer).
This ritual caused Norman Osborn to go further off the deep end than he had ever been, gave Mattie the power that led to her becoming Spider-Woman, and gave Madame Web her youth back.
4 She Helped Spider-Man In One Of The Darkest Moments In His Life
In the lead-up to the Superhuman Civil War, Spider-Man, at the behest of Iron Man, would reveal his secret identity to the world at large. Kingpin, in prison at the time, would take full advantage of this opportunity and hire an assassin to kill Peter Parker in his own home. The bullet would miss Peter but strike Aunt May. She would be on the verge of death with Peter Parker and Mary Jane unsure what to do.
In this darkest hour, Spider-Man sought the help of Madame Web to allow him to telepathically communicate with the comatose Aunt May in her hospital bed. This gave Peter some measure of peace, but it didn't stop him from making an infamous deal with Mephisto to keep his Aunt May alive.
3 She Was Truly Killed By The Kraven Family
Madame Web was abducted by the Kravinoff family to perform yet another occult ritual intended to resurrect their father, Kraven the Hunter, and Vladimir Kravinoff, known also as the Grim Hunt. This ritual also involved kidnaping Mattie Franklin and Kaine Parker, the latter of which would one day become the new Scarlet Spider.
This ritual involved killing Mattie Franklin and Kaine, but the ritual was botched because the latter was a clone of Peter Parker and not the genuine article (for some reason this mattered). This made the resurrected Kraven cursed to forever walk the Earth unless he was killed by Peter Parker. Sasha Kravenoff killed Madame Web out of anger because of this. Kaine would later be resurrected, become the Scarlet Spider, and have another run-in with Kraven.
2 There Is More Than One Madame Web In The Marvel Universe
With her dying breath, Cassandra Webb would transmit her power to Julia Carpenter, making her the new Madame Web. Julia Carpenter was the second Spider-Woman, but she was retired by this point.
This new power blinded Julia Carpenter but gave her the same telepathy and clairvoyance as Cassandra. This also made her the "Weaver" of the Spider-Man Family, putting her at the very center of the likes of Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Scarlet Spider, Silk, and the Ghost-Spider.
1 She Was Briefly Resurrected By The Jackal
Later, Ben Reilly (the original Scarlet Spider and another clone of Peter Parker) would take up the name of the Jackal and begin resurrecting deceased individuals in Spider-Man's orbit. This included Gwen Stacy, the Lizard, the original Rhino, the original Electro, and Madame Web.
Madame Web would help the Jackal for a time, but she eventually rebelled against him and helped Julia Carpenter put a stop to the Jackal's machinations. She also stopped taking the meds that sustained her cloned body and perished yet again.