Emma Roberts 'to join Madame Web cast'

Emma Roberts is set to join the cast of 'Madame Web'.

The 31-year-old actress is to star alongside Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced and Tahar Rahim in the movie, according to Deadline.

The Sony film, which is set in Sony's Spider-Man universe and will be directed by S.J. Clarkson, will be Roberts' first Marvel movie.

In the comic books, Madame Web is depicted as an elderly woman who is connected to a life-support system that looks like a spider's web.

Due to her age and medical condition, Web has never actively fought any villains and insiders have previously said the project could turn into something else.

Johnson is to play the titular character in the movie, and the 32-year-old actress recently admitted she wants to bring "heart" to the role.

She said: "I guess having experience on all tiers of films I can bring maybe some stuff from the little movies to the big movies that I want to see in them, you know? I really love seeing large-scale films that still have heart in them.

"People from 'Cha Cha (Real Smooth)' and some from 'Am I Okay?' are coming on to 'Madame Web' with me. It's cool. It's fun to be able to start creating a real team of people that make movies."

'Euphoria' actress Sweeney recently revealed she has been doing plenty of research for her role.

Asked if she has been reading the source material, she said: "I am. I've been ordering a bunch of comic books. There's a lot to learn."

The 24-year-old star is a big fan of Marvel and Sony superhero films and regularly watched them as she was growing up.

She explained: "I've always been a really big fan of all of the Marvel and Sony Universe movies. I've grown up watching them all and I've been engulfed in the entire world my entire life, so being able to be a part of that is such an incredible, incredible thing."