EXCLUSIVE: Mike Epps (The Upshaws) is the latest addition to the cast of S.J. Clarkson’s Sony film Madame Web, based on the Marvel comics by writer Denny O’Neil and artist John Romita Jr. He joins an ensemble led by Dakota Johnson, which also includes Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Emma Roberts, Celeste O’Connor and Tahar Rahim, as previously announced.

Madame Web is the next entry and first female character to be developed within the Sony Pictures Universe Universe of Marvel characters. Depicted in the comics as an elderly woman suffering from the autoimmune disorder myasthenia gravis, who is therefore connected to a life-support system resembling a spider web, Madame Web is a clairvoyant whose psychic abilities allow her to see within the spider world. The film will be an origin story of the character. Details as to the role Epps is playing haven’t been disclosed.

Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless wrote the film, with Kerem Sanga penning an earlier draft. It’s set for release in theaters on July 7, 2023—on the heels of J.C. Chandor’s Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor Johnson, which is slated for release on January 13.

Epps is an actor and comedian who recently signed on for a role in Apple’s limited series Lady in the Lake, with Natalie Portman. He exec produces and stars in the Netflix sitcom The Upshaws, which just returned for its second season, and will next recur in Prime Video’s dark comedy series I’m a Virgo from Sorry to Bother You filmmaker Boots Riley.

Epps also recently appeared on HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. His recent film credits include Dolemite Is My Name, Troop Zero, The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Girls Trip. He is represented by UTA, managers Dan Spilo (of Industry Entertainment) and Niles Kirchner (of Niles Kirchner Management), and attorney Todd Rubenstein of Yorn, Levine, Barnes.