Sony has released three films this year as part of its Spider-Man Universe. Madame Web was a box office disappointment, grossing $43.8 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $56.7 million internationally, for a total of $100.5 million worldwide. The film also received poor critical reviews. Venom: The Last Dance had a slow start in North America but managed to recover thanks to strong international performance.

The latest release, and reportedly the last for now, is Kraven the Hunter. The movie has earned $18.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $25.4 million overseas, totaling $43.9 million worldwide. It was also met with negative feedback 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 offers a different perspective, blaming the press for the films’ poor performance.

Vinciquerra recently spoke with the Los Angeles Times about his tenure as Sony CEO, noting that while his time was largely successful, the Spider-Man Universe (SSU) was an exception. He described the franchise as “snake-bitten,” explaining that the films would be panned by critics regardless of their quality.

The CEO was specifically asked about the underperformance of Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web, both of which struggled at the box office.

In response, Vinciquerra explained that Madame Web underperformed because the press heavily criticized it. He argued that the film was not bad and did well on Netflix. He also pointed out that the press had similarly targeted films like Venom, despite its popularity with audiences and its 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 often pointed out flaws like weak plots and uninteresting characters. However, one of the biggest reasons cited for the failure of these films was the absence of Spider-Man, despite the entire universe being focused on his supporting characters and villains.

This could be a subjective take, but Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter only seem interesting when they play secondary roles to Spider-Man. Their best chance at drawing audiences lies in their connection to the iconic superhero. Without Spider-Man, it feels like these characters lack the necessary pull to captivate viewers. Of course, this is just my opinion.

Even Kraven the Hunter had potential for success, especially if they had adapted Kraven’s Last Hunt, one of the most popular and compelling Kraven-related stories. However, due to Spider-Man’s absence in the Spider-Man Universe, that iconic storyline couldn’t be done justice in a single movie.

What do you think? Are the fans and the press truly to blame for the SSU’s struggles, or is there more to the story? Share your thoughts in the comments below!