Madame Web is one of the most intriguing movies on the 2024 slate due to its strange marketing and stacked cast. However, things aren’t looking great ahead of its release. Madame Web reviews hail it as one of the worst superhero movies ever.
With Sydney Sweeney and Dakota Johnson headlining a movie, it’s hard for people not to be interested. Sure, previous entries in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe have been lackluster, but Madame Web is a chance to right the ship. Sadly, it appears that this film is going to have an uphill battle if it hopes to find success.
Indie Wire’s David Ehrlich believes that Johnson gives it her best shot, but despite all her talent, she can’t pull the movie out of the mud. “Johnson is one of the most naturally honest and gifted performers to ever play the lead role in one of these things, and while that allows her to elevate certain moments in this movie way beyond where they have any right to be, it also makes it impossible for her to hide in the moments that lay bare their own miserableness,” he said.
Related: All Major Actors & Cast List for Madame Web
Francesca Rivera over at IGN couldn’t get past Madame Web‘s story, which bites off more than it can chew. “Madame Web tries to connect many plots and people together to a confusing, yet ultimately bland result,” she said in her review. “It tries to balance the comedic tone of a modern superhero movie with what could be a more interesting psychological thriller if it invested more time on developing its hero and villain, rather than spreading itself thin trying to connect all these new versions of characters together.”
Finally, USA Today’s Brian Truitt couldn’t help but compare Madame Web to some of the worst modern superhero fare. “Instead of being a breath of fresh air akin to the Tom Holland Spider-flicks, Madame Web is instead a reminder of the Worst Superhero Times (aka the mid-2000s), when we couldn’t escape the doldrums of Spider-Man 3, Elektra and X-Men: The Last Stand,” he said.
Just like its Sony predecessor, Morbius, Madame Web could find second-life as a meme, and based on the reactions to some of its marketing, it’s probably more likely than Johnson and Co. would care to admit. Whatever ends up happening, though, it looks like it will be up to either Kraven or Venom 3 to bring some credibility to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
