The trouble with building a cinematic universe is having a sufficient “Big Bang” of compelling IP to populate a studio’s roster. It’s generous to say thatSony Picturesfailed to enrapture the public with itsSpider-Man-less movies as of late. Following a staggeringly disappointing year at the box office, Sony Pictures CEOTony Vinciquerrahas taken aim at the press, whom he blames directly forMadame WebandKraven the Hunter’s under-performance. The so-to-be ex-CEO of the studio spoke to the LA Times, as reported onBleeding Cool, about the recent critical response to Sony’s side of the Marvel universe:
“Let’s just touch on Madame Web for a moment. Madame Web underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it. It was not a bad film, and it did great on Netflix. For some reason, the press decided that they didn’t want us making these films out of Kraven and Madame Web, and the critics just destroyed them. They also did it with Venom, but the audience loved Venom and made Venom a massive hit. These are not terrible films. They were just destroyed by the critics in the press, for some reason.”
Madame Webis considered a bomb as it barely eked back its $100 million budget, accounting for the worldwide box office gross.Kraven the Hunter’s domestic box office is on track to be one of the worst returns from a superhero film to date. This does not bode well for the peripheral characters on the Sony side of the Marvel coin.
Are Critics All-Powerful?
The argument Vinciquerra makes that negative reviews waved audiences offMadame WebandKraven the Hunteris dubious at best. Plenty of critically panned films have been box office powerhouses -look at a good chunk of the Transformers franchise,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or the Twilight Saga.
These critical punching bags were icing their wounds with bundles of cold hard cash. Movies can be good or bad in critics' esteem and still connect with audiences, which in turn, leads to box office success. Part of the reason the side-character Spidey movies didn’t draw is because they are missing the one thing that guarantees success in a Spider-Man universe: Spider-Man. The MCU and Avengers saga did well, in part, because their ladder to success was built with iconic heroes, step by step, until they had enough good will to then start blowing it withEternals. Did the world crave a standalone villain origin story about a B-tier Spider-Man baddie? Would the MCU have thrived if their fifth movie was a solo Ivan Vanko film with no Ironman?
‘Kraven the Hunter’ Star Refutes a Common Assumption About His Spider-Man Villain Role
Despite already playing one Marvel character, Aaron Taylor-Johnson insists that there’s no crossover with his upcoming role in Kraven the Hunter.
While the Sony Spider-Man Universe might be dead for now, the central web-slinger will still be swinging into theaters sometime in the future. Tom Holland confirmed thatSpider-Man 4 is indeed happeningand his return to the starring role. Fans will have to wait though, as the yet untitled Spider-Man film is set to be released July 19, 2025.
Madame Web
Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter is the fourth movie in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, set in the same Marvel continuity as Tom Hardy’s Venom and Jared Leto’s Morbius. Played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the titular Kraven goes on a solo adventure as an anti-hero, this time independent of his comic book counterpart’s crusade to hunt down Peter Parker.
