The Departing CEO of Sony Pictures Affirms that Kraven and Madame Web Aren't Poor Cinematic Choices
In the realm of big-budget cinema over the past decade, one of the more puzzling decisions by Sony has been their pursuit of a Spider-Man-absent Spider-Man universe, centered around various villains from the comics. This began with Venom, which evolved into a beloved trilogy, but its successors, such as Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter, have not fared as well. In fact, Sony is now focusing solely on Spider-Man 4 and more Into the Spiderverse projects, with the previous ventures like Kraven and Madame Web seemingly abandoned.
We may have some understanding of why this direction was chosen, as Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra, who is stepping down in 2025 to take on a new role, seems to believe in the merit of these films. He expressed his displeasure with Kraven's performance in theaters, stating it was "probably the worst launch we had" during his nearly eight years at Sony, yet conceded, "I still don’t understand, because the film is not a bad film."
Despite the combined efforts of Vinciquerra, actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and director JC Chandor to encourage viewers to watch Kraven, the movie was met with withering criticism (17% on Rotten Tomatoes), although fan scores were higher (74%). Madame Web, which Vinciquerra defended as a well-made film, also faltered at the box office, with poor attendance ($43 million worldwide).
Vinciquerra then defended Madame Web, claiming that its underperformance was the result of relentless criticism from the press, but its success on Netflix suggested otherwise. He seems to confuse the impact of negative reviews with the actual popularity of the movies, noting that Venom, despite its own poor critical reception (30%), managed to become a hit because "audiences loved Venom." However, this logic does not hold up, as an audience that does not love a film cannot turn it into a success.
While it's true that critics can sometimes be more critical than audiences, Vinciquerra's claim that the failure of his villain-centric universe can be solely blamed on critics does not fully make sense. It is also possible that audience enthusiasm for these movies was inflated by meme campaigns, which Vinciquerra may have mistaken for genuine interest. Movies, like Morbius and Madame Web, that were memed about heavily, saw high audience scores, possibly due to audience members wanting to express their participation in the memes.
It is impressive that a CEO of a major film studio can view a film like Madame Web as a success, yet it is concerning that the studio continues to pursue this direction despite such a tumultuous response from critics and audiences. With the current villain era coming to an end, we'll see if things improve or if Disney eventually absorbs the franchise and produces something better.
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In the realm of digital entertainment, Sony could explore innovation in their Spider-Man universe by focusing on gaming, offering unique experiences for players by introducing these villains in interactive narratives. Despite Vinciquerra's claim of criticism being the sole reason for the underperformance of their villain-centric movies, Sony could learn from the positive responses to fan-led meme campaigns and incorporate audience engagement in their future projects.
