Sony has been trying for years to establish a Spider-Man villain universe, using characters from the character’s catalogue, but without the actual hero on loan to Marvel’s MCU. It’s not the idea itself that’s crazy, but Sony has produced a number of films for this universe that have all been met with lukewarm reception, from Morbius to Madame Web and more recently Kraven the Hunter.
So why are these films apparently bad? Why did plans for this Spider-Man villain universe fall apart? If you ask CEO Tony Vinciquerra, it’s the fault of the press. In an interview with LA Times he says this:
“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.”
It’s a quote that’s really doing the rounds in the international media right now, and it’s not particularly popular with fans either, who apparently weren’t too keen on Madame Web, Morbius or Kraven the Hunter either.