Sony CEO Blames Critics for ‘Kraven’ and ‘Madame Web’ Failures: ‘For Some Reason, They Destroyed Them’

Sony released three movies this year as part of its Spider-Man Universe. Madame Web was a box office flop, earning $43.8 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $56.7 million internationally, for a total of $100.5 million worldwide. The movie also got bad reviews. Venom: The Last Dance had a slow start in North America but bounced back with strong international sales.

The latest release, and possibly the last for now, is Kraven the Hunter. It earned $18.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $25.4 million internationally, totaling $43.9 million worldwide. The movie also received negative reactions from both critics and audiences.

It’s clear that Sony’s future with Spider-Man spinoffs is uncertain, and CEO Tony Vinciquerra agrees. However, he believes the press is to blame for the films’ poor performance.

Vinciquerra recently talked to the Los Angeles Times about his time as Sony CEO. He said most of his time was successful, but the Spider-Man Universe (SSU) was an exception. He called the franchise “snake-bitten,” meaning the films were often criticized no matter how good they were.

He was asked specifically about the poor performance of Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web, which both struggled at the box office.

Vinciquerra explained that Madame Web didn’t do well because the press heavily criticized it. He said the film wasn’t bad and even did well on Netflix. He also pointed out that the press had gone after Venom too, even though it was popular with audiences and a success. Vinciquerra believes these films were unfairly attacked by critics.

Let’s just touch on “Madame Web” for a moment. “Madame Web” underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it. It was not a bad film, and it did great on Netflix. For some reason, the press decided that they didn’t want us making these films out of “Kraven” and “Madame Web,” and the critics just destroyed them.

They also did it with “Venom,” but the audience loved “Venom” and made “Venom” a massive hit. These are not terrible films. They were just destroyed by the critics in the press, for some reason.

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The phrase “some reason” might be an oversimplification, as both fans and critics pointed out issues like weak plots and boring characters. However, one big reason for these films’ failure is the lack of Spider-Man, even though the whole universe focuses on his supporting characters and villains.

This might just be my opinion, but Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter seem more interesting when they’re supporting Spider-Man. Their best chance to attract audiences is through their connection to the iconic superhero. Without Spider-Man, these characters don’t seem to have enough appeal on their own.

Even Kraven the Hunter had potential, especially if they had adapted Kraven’s Last Hunt, one of the most famous and exciting Kraven stories. But since Spider-Man is missing from the Spider-Man Universe, that storyline couldn’t really be done justice in a single movie.

What do you think? Are fans and critics really to blame for the SSU’s struggles, or is there something else going on? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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