Tahar Rahim Talks About the MADAME WEB Backlash and His Experience Playing Ezekiel Sims
Sony’s Madame Web never had the warmest welcome from fans, and it ended up with a 10% Rotten Tomatoes score and a worldwide box office total of just $100.3 million, the reaction felt almost preordained.
Still, the movie pulled off an unexpected twist later in the year when it became one of Netflix’s biggest hits of 2024. It even became Sony’s top performer on the platform and has now cracked the streamer’s Top 10 again after arriving on Netflix in the UK.
Streaming success aside, the studio isn’t following it up with a sequel, which means that version of Cassandra Webb and her supporting cast are officially dead.
Among the missed opportunities in Madame Web was its take on Ezekiel Sims. In the comics, he’s a major part of Peter Parker’s world and a key figure in the mythology created by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.
Ezekiel’s history with mystical spider powers and his mentor turned adversary relationship with Spider-Man opened the door to stories that eventually led to Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon. The movie barely scratched the surface of that complicated character, and fans definitely noticed.
Now Tahar Rahim, who played the film’s main villain, is finally addressing the reaction. While speaking to Variety about his new role as Javert in Fred Cavayé’s take on Les Misérables, Rahim reflected on his experience stepping into Ezekiel’s shoes and the online ridicule that followed.
"I’ve heard about all that," he said of the online backlash and memes. "I didn’t look them up because I knew it wouldn’t be a good idea. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I just did my job!"
Rahim’s performance became meme fuel in part because several of his lines were oddly dubbed, creating a disconnect that wasn’t his fault. He previously opened up about how he approached Ezekiel and what he wanted to bring to the character beyond the standard comic book villain energy.
"As a supervillain as well, but also as a human being. I couldn’t just be an out-and-out baddie," he explained. "I had to find some connections, and I thought of his fight for survival. That’s human. You can think about it and question yourself, wondering, ‘What would I do if my life was in danger?'"
"I wouldn’t chase teenagers, but he doesn’t see them as teenagers. They’re threats. They want to stop my life. What can I do to prevent it?" Rahim continued. "I read and looked at every comic book where Ezekiel Sims appears for the body language and to understand him. I discovered that he’s barefoot, which I think is so cool."
It’s tough not to sympathize with the cast. They showed up, they committed, and the movie just didn’t come together the way anyone hoped. Most of them, Rahim included, have already bounced forward into new projects with little lasting impact from the film’s reception.