"Someone needs to stop Sony from making more Morbius type films": Fans predicted Madame Web flop before box office disaster  

Sony's Spider-Man Universe's latest flick, Madame Web, broke a nine-year Marvel record by being at the bottom of the box office in its opening weekend. It is the first time since 2015, when Fox released its Fantastic Four reboot, that a Marvel-based film has failed on its debut.

Unfortunately, fans saw this coming and were worried about the studio's habit of making subpar superhero films that don't do well with critics or at the box office. Months before the movie's theatrical release, an X user responded to Madame Web's trailer launch by asking "someone" to stop working on such films.

Contrary to its shiny Marvel title, Madame Web failed to hook the viewers. The subpar performance has begun conversations about the movie's weaknesses, with some blaming the failure on negative reviews, waning interest, and superhero fatigue among viewers.

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How Madame Web equaled Fantastic Four (2015)

Madame Web has etched its name alongside a notorious predecessor: Fantastic Four (2015). Soon after the flop at the box office, the movie has seen a lot of similarities with the failed introduction of the Fantastic Four reboot by Fox, representing the new era of the MCU.

Although the Marvel brand is heavily behind it, this movie was not able to draw in a lot of audiences. It made a lowly $17.6 million in the US over the opening weekend and a total of $25.8 million over six days.

Dakota Johnson. on a still from the trailer (Image via YouTube/Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1:03)

Similar to the 2015 film, the Dakota Johnson-starrer was plagued by many negative reviews as well as a lack of anticipation, and that fundamentally affected its response. Social platforms were flooded with disappointment among fans, and it was easy to see parallels with Marvel's failures such as Dark Phoenix and Eternals.

Just like Fantastic Four 2015, Madame Web stands as a glaring example of how difficult it can be to successfully bring much-cherished comic book characters onto the big screen. Through the dynamic world of superhero films, Marvel will face the challenge of leveraging the lessons learned from its failure.

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Reasons why Madame Web was a flop at the box office

Its box office failure can be attributed to a combination of factors. Poor marketing resulted in low anticipation, and the film was attacked for its storytelling and character development. The superhero film market may be over-saturated, with audience fatigue appearing to be a factor.

This film was overshadowed by other super-sized movies around the same time, and thus, it split attention and ticket sales. Given its position in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, the film was expected to meet high franchise expectations but did not deliver.

A Twitter user criticized the current state of the MCU, saying it resembles a low-budget TV show on the CW network. They suggested that the MCU should stop making subpar content and focus on improving its material.

Ultimately, the film failed to attract viewers because of poor marketing, negative reviews, superhero exhaustion, harsh competition, unfulfilled franchise expectations, and critical comparisons accounted for its underperformance.

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Madame Web is available on FuboTV, Paramount+, Paramount+ via Prime Video, and DIRECTV Stream. It's on sale on Prime Video, VUDU, iTunes, and Apple TV, and rentable on Prime Video, VUDU, iTunes, Microsoft Store, and Apple TV.