Sony’s Spider-Man Universe began with the release of Venom in 2018. Fans have since been trying to piece together this universe that of Spider-Man characters that exist without Spider-Man. With the release of Madame Web, however, it seems to have potentially killed Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
The franchise currently consists of Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, and Madame Web. Two additional films – Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3 – are set to be released. Beyond that, however, the future is unclear.
The films have mostly received negative reviews, with Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage being the most positively-received. Morbius turned out to be a flop, however, and Madame Web appears to be following in its footsteps. This is quite unfortunate, especially after Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius made attempts to tie into the much more successful Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Similarly, the MCU’s Spider-Man: No Way Home included Eddie Brock for its post-credits scene following the ending of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius continued that streak by including Spider-Man: Homecoming villain Vulture in its own post-credits scene. Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse included a few references to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe as well. It seemed as though a wider Multiverse with endless potential was being built.
As shared via THR, this idea seems to have been squandered by the failure of Madame Web. As noted by the publication, one theatrical chain executive emphasized how much money the newly-released film is losing:
“On Wednesday night, you could actually watch advance purchase sales declining in real time as buyers were refunding their tickets,” the executive shared. “It really says something when you’d rather have Shazam! 2 numbers.”
The publication adds that Madame web “marked one of the lowest starts in Hollywood history for a film based on a Marvel character.”
“Domestic box office for the first six days in North America was just $26.2 million after opening midweek on Valentine’s Day,” the publication adds. “International tallied $25.7 million from 61 markets. Even the fan-friendly CinemaScore grade was poor (C+ — extremely low for a superhero title).”
The film was obviously intended to launch a Madame Web franchise featuring Dakota Johnson, Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor, and Sydney Sweeney. As noted by one industry veteran, however, that seems highly unlikely now to ever happen.
“We’re not going to see another Madame Web movie for another decade-plus,” the veteran shared. “It failed. Sony tried to make a movie that was a different type of superhero movie.”
So, while “the current mood on the Sony lot is gloomy,” according to another insider, the ultimate fate of the franchise likely depends on the success of Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3. Otherwise we could expect to see another major reworking from Sony. The studio already reworked their properties when Spider-Man 3 didn’t do as expected and again when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 didn’t do as expected.
As such, history may be repeating itself once again. Otherwise, Madame Web is simply a large bump in Sony’s path to success for their Spider-Man Universe. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.