‘Madame Web’: First Reactions After the Premiere

Abid Rahman
·3-min read

Madame Web was finally revealed to the public Monday night after the Sony/Marvel film held its premiere in Los Angeles, and the first reactions have already hit social media.

The superhero movie stars Dakota Johnson in the title role, a woman who develops psychic abilities. The cast also includes Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts and Adam Scott. Directed by S.J. Clarkson, Madame Web was written by Clarkson, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless and Claire Parker.

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Madame Web is hitting theaters at a time when comic book movies are experiencing something of a slump, following poor box office returns and critical scores for Marvel’s The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and DC’s The Flash, Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

The film is the fourth feature in Sony’s shared Spider-Man Universe (SSU), and follows Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and Morbius (2022). Thus far, the films from the SSU have received a critical mauling, although the box office performances have been fair to middling.

After Madame Web, Sony plans to release Kraven the Hunter on Aug. 30 and Venom 3 on Nov. 8.

Full reviews for Madame Web dropped Tuesday morning — with The Hollywood Reporter’s review calling the film an “airless and stilted endeavor,” and Lovia Gyarkye writing that “its lack of imagination would be astounding if it wasn’t so expected.” Read on for a sampling of the first reactions to the film after the premiere before all the reviews come in.

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