Critics have broken the trailer excitement for Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff, Madame Web, which has the lowest average Rotten Tomatoes score of any major superhero picture in over a decade (13%). The film, based on a Marvel superhero, got off to one of the worst beginnings in Hollywood history for a Marvel picture.
The domestic box office for the first six days in North America was barely $26.2 million, while the overseas total was $25.7 million from 61 markets. Even the fan-friendly CinemaScore rating (C+) was relatively low for a superhero film.
Sony is now under pressure to reconsider how it produces comic book films, after every live-action comic book film released last year flopped, except for Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Superhero weariness has progressed from a word used by certain segments of the fanbase to something unwillingly acknowledged as industry truth.
Madame Web follows a disturbing pattern in the superhero genre, with all live-action comic book films last year failing except for Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Under Tom Rothman’s leadership, the studio has had noteworthy successes, including the Oscar-nominated Spider-Verse franchise and the live-action Venom.
