Tahar Rahim shared his extensive research through the pages of Marvel Comics to prepare to play Ezekiel Sims in Sony’s Madame Web.
“We shot different things and I don’t think we’ll have more to show than what it’s in the movie,” Rahim said in an interview with ComicBook.com. “But what I did is, I went back to the comic books and I tried to put in as much of him from the comic books as I could to create a connection. I told myself: What is his back story in this movie, specifically, for me? It’s just a young boy who was abandoned, mistreated and had to experience every bad thing that the world has to offer, and eventually turned him into a selfish man who wants power for himself.”
Rahim’s Sims made his comic book debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #30 by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr. Conceived as a wealthy businessman exposed to a Spider-Totem giving him superpowers, the character was reworked in Madame Web as a supervillain trying to prevent his death at the hands of Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson) and her team of Spider-Women. Unlike his comic book counterpart, the big screen version of Sims dons a costume similar to the black Spider-Man outfit.
What is Madame Web about?
The official synopsis for Madame Web reads as follows: “In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines. The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures . . . if they can all survive a deadly present.”
Directed by S.J. Clarkson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, and Claire Parker, Johnson headlines the movie alongside Sydney Sweeney as Julia Cornwall, Celeste O’Connor as Mattie Franklin, Isabela Merced as Anya Corazon, and Rahim as Ezekiel Sims.
Madame Web is now playing in theaters.
