A different kind of Spider-Man is coming. ICYMI, Madame Web hits theaters next year—February 14, 2024—and the first trailer just dropped. The upcoming Spidey spin-off stars Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson and introduces a whole new side of Spider-adjacent superheroes. And one villain.
If you are a serious Spider-Man fan, you’ll know that this franchise is full of some of the most interesting villains in the Marvel universe. From the Green Goblin to Mysterio, there are plenty of fascinating characters out there that’ll send you down a Marvel-themed Reddit rabbit hole.
There are also, of course, the villains that are wicked parallels to the world-renowned web slinger himself—like Venom. In the newest franchise film, there is the even more similar Ezekiel Sims. Below, see everything to know about the “evil” Spider-Man.
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Who are the characters to know in Madame Web?
Before touching on Ezekiel, allow me to fill you in on the newest faces in the Spiderverse. Sadly, this film won’t include Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, or even Miles Morales. It will, however, be full of powerful women—and, TBH, that’s even better. Sorry, Tom!
- Cassandra Webb a.k.a Madame Web—Dakota Johnson
- Julia Carpenter a.k.a. Arachne—Sydney Sweeney
- Anya Corazon a.k.a. Spider-Girl—Isabela Merced
- Mattie Franklin a.k.a. Spider-Woman—Celeste O’Connor
- Ben Parker—Adam Scott
- Mary Parker—Emma Roberts
- Ezekiel Sims—Tahar Rahim
ICYDK, Tahar Rahim, 42, is actually a French-Algerian actor, who’s been prominent since about 2009. This will be his first appearance in a Marvel franchise film, but he’s also the films A Prophet (2009) and The Mauritanian (2021), per IMDb.
Who is Marvel villain Ezekiel Sims?
If you caught the newest Madame Web trailer, you may have noticed an evil Spider-Man lookalike who is wreaking havoc in Cassandra Webb’s (Dakota Johnson) life. To the untrained eye, this character may look like Venom— the dark Spider-Man alien thing from Tobey Macguire’s Spider-Man 3—but this is actually an entirely different specimen. And he doesn’t even have a super villain-y name. It’s just Ezekiel “Zeke” Sims.
Ezekiel Sims first made an appearance in the Spider-Man comics in 2001, per Screen Rant. However, Madame Web will be the first glimpse of him on screen. Plus, in the comics, Ezekiel is just some guy with spider capabilities—not a villain. He’s normally shown wearing just a suit and tie while barefoot (so he can climb walls, obviously). And unlike Peter Parker, Zeke wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider, he gained his powers through some wicked Spider ritual, per Screen Rant, which sounds pretty evil to me.
He also acts as somewhat of a spiritual mentor for Peter Parker in the original comics—and in one version, even takes over the role after Peter’s death in his universe, per Screen Rant. Yeah. There’s a lot of Spider-Verse lore to parse through before watching this upcoming film.
Is Ezekiel Sims villain in Madame Web?
It’s a little unclear, but it appears so. In the Spider-Man comics, Ezekiel is never presented as sinister, but he seems to be very threatening in the movie (like when he kills people on the train in that one clip). He is also presented wearing both his typical suit and tie attire, and a new all black suit (cue the villain vibes).
In the comics, Ezekiel Sims seeks to protect those in the Spiderverse (including Spider-Man himself) from another villain, Morlun. However, his character is also keen on killing off the Spiderheroes in Madame Web, which is also what Morlun does in the comics.
The new movie could be combining the two comic book characters, or setting up a bait-and-switch that could introduce the actual villain character at the end of Madame Web. Only time will tell.
What are Ezekiel Sims’ powers?
He’s basically Spider-Man, without all the wholesomeness of Peter Parker. He can climb walls, shoot webs, and has the iconic “Spidey senses.” This seems to be a huge part of Madame Web, as Cassandra’s main power seems to be seeing a few minutes into the future, according to the trailer.
In the comics, Ezekiel’s ability to see the future conflicts with Spider-Man’s. As in, when they’re close together, their power doesn’t work correctly. This could be the reason Ezekiel is on a crazy killing spree in the Madame Web trailer, but I guess fans won’t find out for sure until Valentine’s Day.
Anyone fancy a romantic date to the cinema on February 14, 2024?
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Olivia Evans (she/her) is an editorial assistant at Women’s Health. Her work has previously appeared in The Cut and Teen Vogue. She loves covering topics where culture and wellness intersect. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, and watching rom-coms.
