Edmonton’s SpiderMable is cancer free as she prepares for anniversary screening of documentary

A decade after she captured the hearts of Edmontonians with her wish to save the city as Spider-Man, SpiderMable is a happy, healthy teenager.

It’s been 10 years since Edmonton’s Mable Tooke got her wish day during her battle with childhood cancer, and five years since the documentary chronicling her journey was released.

Her award-winning documentary is coming back to Metro Cinema on Saturday night for a special anniversary screening.

Since 2015, Tooke has taken on the role of SpiderMable, a web-slinging six-year-old with her own comic book, song, public appearances and heroic adventures as she battled with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Tooke was diagnosed with leukemia, a white blood cell cancer, at age four. After a moving story on her wish to become like Spider-Man, the city leapt into action.

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She would go on to don the mask and become a crime-fighting alter ego.

Nowadays, though, she said she just goes by your friendly neighbourhood Mable.

“I still feel really connected to SpiderMable, but I’m not so much the superhero anymore. I’m more Mable who wants to give back,” she said in an interview Friday.

Writer and director Kelly Wolfert said the five-year-long film project began as a quest to fulfill young Tooke’s dream through the Children’s Wish Foundation.

They then realized she was both endearing and inspirational for those touched by cancer.

“The story traveled all over the world. It’s pretty incredible,” Wolfert said, adding Tooke’s ease in front of the cameras was awe-inspiring.

“But I think I was most proud of the city who, on a moment’s notice … all got together and showed up in different locations to make sure they could be part of making this young girl and her wish feel important.”

As Tooke grew up, she became the Daffodil ambassador for the Canadian Cancer Society. Wolfert said the last portion of the documentary follows her journey through stronger treatments as she gets older, her move in and out of cancer research advocacy and her indomitable spirit.

Now, at almost 17 years old, Tooke is cancer-free and down to normal doctor check-ups. She’s officially listed as a survivor.

“I think I’ve matured a lot, but I still hold a lot of the qualities I had back then, and I value that,” Tooke reflected on the documentary. “It shows that yeah, I’ve changed, I’ve matured, but I’m still me.”

Her spidey suit is still sitting in her closet – but for Tooke, it’s just a reminder of her own resilience.

“I want to see [the documentary] again from the perspective of that situation being in the past rather than the current,” Tooke’s mother, Lisa, said on Friday.

“She’s a good kid. If she can keep even a quarter of that energy and inspiration as she grows up as an adult, she is going to do very well.”

SpiderMable: A Real Life Superhero Story tickets can be purchased on the Metro Cinema website. The screening is attached to a fundraiser for the Kids with Cancer Society.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson