The superhero genre has been dominating the entertainment industry for over a decade, with various studios crafting their own cinematic universes. That includes Sony's Spider-Man Universe, which features characters from Spidey-lore, without actually including Peter Parker. The last of these movies is Madame Web (which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription), although it went viral for the wrong reasons and struggled to make money. And now producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has reacted to the movie's infamous flopping, saying it was "like an axe in your head." Let's break it all down.
Despite a strong cast, Madame Web bombed at the box office, and was made into countless memes along the way. It quickly got put on Netflix, where it trended well thanks to folks hate-watching the movie, and complaining that the heroes were only in their superhero suits for about 5 minutes. Lorenzo di Bonaventura was recently asked about Madame Web's unique life while speaking with ComicBook, where he got honest about the heartbreak of its performance. As he put it:
Yeah, that, that was uh, that was a heartbreaking experience in the theater. So I'll tell you that. Like an axe in your head.
Ouch. A ton of money and hard work went into the ill-fated superhero flick, and it sounds like it was heartbreaking for those involved to see just how poorly it did in theaters. Add in the the brutal critical response to Madame Web, and it sounds painful for di Bonaventura. And as such, we probably shouldn't expect a sequel to get green lit by Sony anytime soon.
A ton of criticism was hurled at Madame Web upon its release. That includes folks poking fun at Dakota Johnson's deadpan performance, the lack of actual superheroes, and how much of the villain's dialogue was swapped for obvious ADR. But it also did really well upon debuting on Netflix, which makes things a bit more confusing. Later in that same interview with ComicBook, the movie's producer was honest about how tricky it was to ultimately measure the movie's success after streaming. In his words:
I think one of the things, and, and this is a longer conversation which I'd be happy to have. I think one of the problems with streaming is that we don't know how to judge failure or success, right? Opening weekend when it doesn't work, you just got slammed side of your head. And so the brutalness of failure really makes you concentrate on the next movie. And I don't want that experience again. So there's a, it's a harsher experience. So I think that has a lot to do with what kind of movies now that I look at, like, all right, how am I gonna approach this?
It definitely seems like there are some strong emotions tied to the work done on Madame Web. And per Lorenzo di Bonaventura's comments, it influenced the way he's approaching future projects.
Madame Web bombing came after Jared Leto's Morbius failed at the box office...twice. And as such, it seems like Sony's shared universe might be in some trouble. The pressure is definitely on for the next installment Kraven the Hunter to deliver in a big way. Although the lack of a Spider-Man might dissuade audiences from seeing it in theaters.
All will be revealed when Kraven the Hunter arrives in theaters on December 13th. For now, check the 2025 movie release dates.
