Madame Web Has A Stan Lee Connection Only Hardcore Marvel Fans Know

Madame Web is coming soon to the big screen with Dakota Johnson taking on the role in the upcoming self-titled film. The character has a long and storied history connected to Spider-Man lore. However, even the most astute comic book fan may not know she has a significant surprise connection to Marvel legend Stan Lee, whose wife Joan voiced the hero in the "Spider-Man" animated series in the 1990s.

Madame Web first appeared in "Amazing Spider-Man" #210 (by Dennis O'Neil, John Romita Jr., Joe Sinnott, Bob Sharen, and Jim Novak) as a clairvoyant and telepathic mutant able to navigate the Web of Life and Destiny and see into the future through the spider-side of the multiverse. She's encountered the wall-crawler on multiple occasions, most famously in the "Spider-Man" animated series, where she constantly tests the web-slinger to prepare him for a greater battle for the multiverse against a version of Carnage.

The actress and model, who passed away in 2017, was involved in voicing a couple of Marvel characters in different television projects. She voiced Lavinia Forbes, aka the renter of the Baxter Building in the "Fantastic Four" animated series. She even made a live-action cameo in the 2016 film, "X-Men Apocalypse," alongside her husband. However, her role as Madame Web in the widely popular "Spider-Man" series of the '90s was definitely her most prominent. The character first appears in the Season 3 episode, "Doctor Strange," with her last appearance in the show's Season 5 finale in the "Spider-Wars," where she actually introduces Spider-Man to Stan Lee.

In 2017, John Semper Jr., the head writer of the "Spider-Man" animated series, paid tribute to Joan Lee after her passing. He explained that when planning Season 3 and how to introduce Madame Web's crucial role on the show, he always imagined Lee's voice for the character. "There was only one person I wanted to provide the voice for Madame Web — JOAN LEE, the wife of Stan Lee. I had known Joan and Stan for many years prior to this, and as I wrote the 'Madame Web' character, it was Joan's voice in my head that I was hearing," he wrote. I knew she could capture perfectly the husky, haughty, almost arrogant attitude I wanted for 'Madame Web.' And, of course, she had that wonderful British accent! Joan graciously consented to perform the role, and she was, as I had expected, perfect."

Ultimately, Lee proved to be an excellent choice for Madame Web. Her memorable voice fit the character so well that most people who watched "Spider-Man" had little idea she was the wife of Stan Lee. She made the role her own and helped bring to life one of the strangest and most important heroes in the entire Spider-Man mythos. Hopefully, when the "Madame Web" live-action film releases in 2024, the movie can find a way to pay tribute to Lee, whether it's in a small Easter egg such as a picture of her in a background shot and an acknowledgment in the movie's end credits as without her iconic performance, it's possible Madame Web would have remained forever in comic obscurity.