In what is probably one of the most surprising casting announcements in recent memory, Mike Epps is joining Sony’s Spider-Verse.
According to Deadline, the comedian and actor will star in the upcoming super-heroine film Madame Web. This marks Epps first role in a non-comedy film since his stint in the Paul W.S Anderson’s Resident Evil franchise.
He joins the ever growing cast that includes Dakota Johnson (50 Shades franchise), Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), Celeste O’Connor (Freaky), Isabela Merced (Transformers: The Last Knight), and Emma Roberts (Scream 4) who just joined the cast last week.
S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones) will direct the film, while Morbius scribes Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, and Kerem Sanga (Dinner in America) contributed to the screenplay.
Epps is coming in hot following the release of the second season of his hilarious Netflix sitcom The Upshaws. Details about Epps’ role in the film have not been disclosed.
For those unfamiliar with Madame Web, she is depicted as an elderly woman with myasthenia gravis and thus was connected to a life-support system that looked like a spider web. Due to her age and medical condition, Madame Web never actively fought any villains. For that reason, sources have stressed it’s possible the project could turn into something else. Insiders close to Deadline claim that Sony wants this character to be their own version of Doctor Strange, due to the character’s sensory powers.
Filming is expected to begin soon, but the film itself isn’t slated to come out until late next year. The next Spider-Verse film being served by Sony is Kraven the Hunter, which hits theaters this January.
SOURCE: Deadline
