“That’s What Bums Me Out”: Marvel Star Points Finger Of Blame Over Madame Web’s Failure

Summary

• Emma Roberts defends Madame Web's failure, attributing it to internet culture and memes.
• The Sony's Spider-Man Universe installment is the worst-rated superhero movie since Fantastic Four (2015), further damaging the SSU's image.
• With planned projects being canceled and actors disinterested in returning, Madame Web may have marked the end of the SSU, barring Venom: The Last Dance and Kraven the Hunter's releases.

Following its recent success on Netflix, Emma Roberts is weighing in on Madame Web's failure and what she thinks the real reason was for its initial failure. The latest installment in Sony's Spider-Man Universe served as the origin story for the titular Marvel character, exploring her going from a New York City paramedic to a woman with precognitive abilities trying to protect three teenagers from a similarly powered man wanting to prevent his future death at their hands. Led by Dakota Johnson, Madame Web was deemed a critical failure and commercial underperformer, barely recouping its reported $100 million production budget.
During a recent interview with Variety for her Prime Video comedy Space Cadet, Roberts was asked her thoughts on the poor critical reception to Madame Web. The Marvel star held steadfast in her defense of the SSU movie, recalling having "personally really loved" her experience making the movie and citing director S.J. Clarkson as the reason for her joining the project, and ultimately pointed the blame at "internet culture" for why the movie was a failure. See what Roberts explained below:

Things work; things don’t work. Everyone likes to act like they can predict if they’re going to work, or they’re not. And the truth is, you can’t. Things do badly, and then they blow up later on TikTok. Things do well, but then you watch them, and you’re like, “This did well?” There is no secret. It’s about doing something goodish and it hitting at the right time. Everything else is like a wish and a prayer. I’m not intimidated by failure, and I’m not intimidated by people having negative thoughts about something.
I personally really loved “Madame Web.” I really enjoyed the movie. I thought everyone in it was great. The director, S.J. Clarkson, I think did an amazing job. She’s the reason I wanted to do that movie. If it wasn’t for internet culture and everything being made into a joke, I think that the reception would’ve been different. And that’s what bums me out about a lot of stuff, even stuff that I’ve done, is people just make such a joke out of everything now.

Madame Web May Have Been The Death Of The SSU Close To Roberts' point, the SSU has long struggled to overcome being the target of memes going back to the franchise's start. The first Venom movie's "like a turd in the wind line" quickly became a viral meme, while the Jared Leto-led Morbius also saw everything from its Venom reference to the creation of the "It's Morbin' Time" meme. The latter's viral nature even led to Sony re-releasing the movie in theaters in the hopes of boosting its struggling box office, only for it to perform even worse than in its initial release.
Related Marvel Finally Made A More Memeable Movie Than Morbius Madame Web challenges Morbius" ability to spawn viral memes with its awkward dialog, questionable performances, meager plot, and poor reception.
Though Morbius was initially deemed as the lowest bar set for the SSU, Madame Web managed to lower the bar even further, both with critics and at the box office. At the time of writing, the movie holds an 11% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the worst superhero score since 2015's Fantastic Four reboot, and an underwhelming 57% score from audiences. Its box office didn't fare much better, bringing in just over $100 million against its reported $100 million production budget. See how Madame Web's performance compared to other SSU movies below:
Name
RT Critics Score
RT Audience Score
Box Office
Venom
30%
80%
$856 Million
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
57%
84%
$506.9 Million
Morbius
15%
71%
$167.5 Million
Madame Web
11%
57%
$100.3 Million
With the movie continuing the downward trend for the franchise, it seems possible that Madame Web has put the final nail in the SSU's coffin. The studio has already begun quietly cancelling planned projects, and Johnson herself has indicated a lack of interest in a superhero genre return following the response to the movie. Though Venom: The Last Dance's release could still turn things around for the franchise, the fact that it's meant to close out the Tom Hardy-led trilogy may be the sign Sony is gearing up to put the SSU behind them.
Madame Web is available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Variety
> Madame Web PG-13 Action Sci-FiSuperheroAdventure Where to Watch *Availability in US
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Madame Web is a superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Taking place in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, the movie revolves around a clairvoyant woman who can look into different dimensions. Dakota Johnson stars in the lead role, with Sydney Sweeney, Adam Scott, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O'Connor comprising the rest of the cast.
Director S.J. Clarkson Release Date February 14, 2024 Studio(s) Columbia Pictures , Di Bonaventura Pictures Distributor(s) Sony Pictures Releasing Writers Burk Sharpless , Matt Sazama , Kerem Sanga , Claire Parker , S.J. Clarkson Cast Dakota Johnson , Emma Roberts , Adam Scott , Isabela Merced , Sydney Sweeney Runtime 116 Minutes Budget $80 Million Main Genre Adventure Expand Upcoming Sony's Spider-Man Universe Movies
Release Date
Venom: The Last Dance
October 25, 2024
Kraven the Hunter
December 13, 2024


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