Who Is Madame Web's Anya Corazon: Isabela Merced's Spider-Girl Explained

Is it really a modern "Spider-Man" movie if there aren't multiple characters rocking the same superhero name? Of the three Spider-People clinging to Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) in Sony's "Madame Web," two of them, Julia Carpenter (Sydney Sweeney) and Mattie Franklin (Celeste O'Connor), fight crime under the alias Spider-Woman. The third, Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), however, stands out because the writers decided to use her first superhero title, rather than her later one. In the comics, before she became Spider-Girl, Anya went by Araña — or Spanish for "spider."

All that's currently known about Merced's rendition of Anya is that she's destined for a powerful future if she can survive a deadly present. Does that mean Sony's project will serve as an origin story for all four heroines, or only for some of them, with the others getting a pre-origin story? That remains to be seen. The trailer depicts Anya, Julia, and Mattie in their super suits but only briefly and only after the villain complains about who they will become in the future, so it could be that "Madame Web" only shows their superhero identities off long enough to promote other projects. Conversely, they could spend half the movie in spandex — nobody knows.

Araña isn't a Spider-Person with the same kind of public recognition as, say, Spider-Gwen or Spider-Punk, despite predating both of them. Marvel first introduced the Latinx hero in 2004 during the "Amazing Fantasy" anthology series. More recently, she appeared in the Disney XD original series "Spider-Man." She's not a blank slate per se but she's gone through a few big changes, which means that Sony can apply whatever personality the studio sees fit for her live-action debut.

Anya Corazon, aka Aña Sofia Corazón, obtains her powers on her first day of high school. The Brooklyn gymnast sacrifices herself to defend a stranger who turns out to be a sorcerer in the Spider Society — the same group that chased Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) across the Spider-Verse. The Spider-sorcerer, Miguel Legar, saves her life by marking her with a magical spider tattoo that also imbues her with some of his spider powers. Later versions of the story separate the tattoo and the superpowers by making the former a battle scar obtained through aiding Miguel. 

As Araña, Anya boasts the standard gamut of spider powers, including increased strength, heightened reflexes, and wall-crawling. At first, she cannot create organic webbing, so she creates a pair of thematic grappling hooks similar to the web bangles used by Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni) in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." Additionally, Anya's original toolset features a blue exoskeleton that manifests as part of her powers, like a much less aggressive version of what Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) deals with in "Blue Beetle."

Anya's look also varies from comic to comic.  As Araña, her costume is red and white. As Spider-Girl, it's similar to Spider-Man's venom suit. Also, she was originally a light-skinned young woman with red hair. Other versions depict her as even more white-passing with either blond or brunette hair, all but erasing any visual connection to her Latinx (Puerto Rican and Mexican) heritage.

In the comics, Anya Corazon binds her name to the Spider Society, the Avengers, and the Order of the Web. That last group is one that she co-founds with a small group of Spider-People, including Cassandra Webb and Julia Carpenter. The original purpose of this group is to protect the timeline from corruption foreseen by Cassandra and Julia, both of whom possess precognitive abilities. If any of that sounds familiar, then you've probably watched Sony's trailer. The story of "Madame Web" seems to follow Cassandra as she first develops her psionic powers and uses them to protect those around her. In other words, she's rocking her own version of "Minority Report."

But assuming that "Madame Web" draws inspiration from the Order of the Web arc doesn't make figuring out how Sony plans to portray Anya any easier. That's because she no longer goes by the name Araña at that point in her story, which means that Sony is likely doing some sort of narrative mix-and-match. Would that be surprising? No. Most movie adaptations of comics play fast and loose with the rulebook, which is another conversation all on its own. Our next best route would be to find any clues in Anya's dialogue ... except she's practically mute in the trailer. So we're functionally taking potshots in the dark here.

Broadly speaking, Anya is a typical Spider-Person who enjoys quipping and complaining. She's also a kid, which colors the sort of humor she's likely to employ. Reports suggest that "Madame Web" will be set in the early 2000s, so Anya might even get the same kind of generational goofs as her comic counterpart, which we think is kind of neat.