S. J. Clarkson’s previously announced Marvel comics film for Sony appears to have netted its lead: Dakota Johnson has been tapped to star as Madame Web. Deadline broke the news.

Madame Web is part of Sony’s catalogue of Marvel characters, technically distinct from Marvel Studios, the Disney-owned subsidiary behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s reported that studio heads have been preoccupied with developing a female-driven property from their stable of comic characters for some time. It’s no surprise given Marvel Studios’ success with “Captain Marvel,” which grossed over $1 billion globally, and “Black Widow,” which last summer scored the then-largest domestic box office opening since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s expected that this Madame Web film portrayal will deviate from the character’s on-page origins, wherein she is depicted as an elderly woman who — due to illness — is connected to a life support system that looks like a spider web, and who never actively fights villains.

It’s not the only spider-y film project Sony has in development — Olivia Wilde is also signed on to direct an untitled, female-centric Marvel film project for the studio, rumored to revolve around the character Spider-Woman.

Currently, Clarkson is working on an adaptation of Sarah Vaughan’s best-selling novel “Anatomy of a Scandal” in a directing and exec producer capacity. She previously directed episodes of the Netflix Marvel series “Jessica Jones” and “The Defenders,” as well as “Succession” and “Orange Is the New Black.”

Johnson’s most recent credits include Nisha Ganatra’s “The High Note,” and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feature directorial debut, “The Lost Daughter,” and she will be seen in Carrie Cracknell’s upcoming adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion.”