Who is Julia Carpenter in Marvel? Sydney Sweeney’s Sony Spider-Man role, explained
In late 2022, actress and Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney made headlines when it was revealed that she was joining Sony’s Madame Web movie. People speculated on just who she would play, and in recent reports, it has been suggested that her role is that of Julia Carpenter. The character was created in 1984 and, while things could change, could give Sweeney a lot to work with if she’s allowed to own the role.
To begin with, Carpenter is known as the second Spider-Woman after Jessica Drew. Unlike Drew — born from Stan Lee’s fear of someone stealing the Spider-Woman name that also has the ability to shoot a form of electricity from her hands — her comic history includes being a married and subsequently divorced mother before becoming a superhero as part of a secret government study. This gives her powers similar to Spider-Man, and soon after, she gets caught up in some of Marvel’s major events before retiring for a bit.
However, as with all comic characters who have powers and an extensive history, Carpenter’s time off did not last forever. She eventually regains her abilities, participates in Marvel’s Civil War, and ultimately becomes the new Madame Webb after the old one is mortally wounded and transfers her abilities. This then renders her blind, telepathic, able to see the future, and she can even project astrally. Versions of her have popped up on the Iron Man animated series, Ultimate Spider-Man, and have been seen in video games like Marvel Ultimate Alliance and the since-discontinued endless runner titled Spider-Man Unlimited as an unlockable character, too. Spider-Man’s black suit look was inspired by hers, she has been romantically involved with antiheroes, and, while connected to everyone’s favorite wallcrawler, has also told him she would never date him due to an intense distaste for his general personality.
Whether any of this will have a presence in the film remains to be seen. Right now, the project releasing in February of 2024 does not even have a plot synopsis on Wikipedia and only a handful of other cast members like Adam Scott and Dakota Johnson have been confirmed. Additionally, Johnson has said she was unprepared for the project, and, given Sony’s track record, this does not exactly bode well. However, box office bomb or not, Sweeney will likely continue to work at a steady pace. She has a horror movie titled Immaculate due in the future, and on television, Cassie Howard in Euphoria and the ridiculous trolling that comes with it are her steady options for now.