If Sony is trying to get fans excited about their new Spider-verse movie, Madame Web, I’ve got to say they’re not doing the best job. The trailer that came out last month was widely mocked by fans, with many saying it looked like another Morbius (ouch), and the first two posters don’t look like they’re going to change anyone’s mind.
Check them out:
I’m not going to lie – these are pretty bad posters. While the folks involved have been saying Madame Web is a “suspense-driven thriller,” it looks…well…cheap and perhaps an ill-advised move by Sony, considering the residual bad buzz left over from Morbius. Given that we’re in the middle of a pretty bad run of superhero movies flopping, Madame Web seems unlikely to turn the tide, which is too bad as Dakota Johnson deserves a solid starring role in a franchise – this doesn’t seem to be it. The movie is due in just over two months, and it looks like these posters were whipped in Photoshop.
All that said, I feel bad for beating up on a movie that’s already got pretty bad buzz. I hope I’m wrong about Madame Web. I love Johnson (especially in edgier fare like the Suspiria remake), and Sydney Sweeney, who plays a character that later becomes Spider-Woman, seems like a star in the making. Director S.J Clarkson has helmed a lot of great TV and has been buzzed about for years. Hopefully, Madame Web is just – for whatever reason- not being marketed well and is a decent movie. We’ll see but this looks like it could be a pricey flop for the studio.
Here is the studio synopsis:
In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines. The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures… if they can all survive a deadly present.
Madame Web hits theatres on February 16th.