Madame Web debuts to a disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score, continuing a trend of underwhelming critical reception for recent Sony's Spider-Man Universe films.
Madame Web, Sony's newest Spider-Man Universe film, reimagines the character with actress Dakota Johnson portraying a younger version of Madame Web. The plot finds Cassandra Webb investigating her future after a life-threatening car accident leaves her with new powers to see events before they happen. As she contends with these disorienting visions, Webb uncovers threats that put her own life and others in danger. While the film attempts to establish a fresh take on the character, critics highlight issues in relying too heavily on generic superhero plot devices without enough unique identity.
With 51 reviews counted as of this writing, Madame Web has a Rotten score of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating an overwhelmingly negative critical reception. Many critics highlight that the film feels like a regression and a step backward for the superhero genre when franchises already face accusations of creative stagnation from audiences. Negative comparisons are widely made between this film and the superior reception and success of Sony's animated Spider-Verse films, which demonstrate far more imaginative approaches. There is a sense that while the animated films capture the creativity of comic books, these latest Sony live-action efforts lag far behind the complexity of some of their Marvel Cinematic Universe counterparts.
The Madame Web box office predictions suggest that the film's theatrical earnings could range between $56 to $101 million. This figure likely concerns the production studio, particularly given the movie's reported budget of $80 million. The main issue seems to be that these secondary Spider-Man characters simply don't have enough name recognition or fan excitement built up around them yet, so casual audiences are not sold on spending money to see their solo movies. Sony needs these films to work to
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