2024 is, hands down, shaping up to be the strangest, most mind-boggling year and a Marvel character racing to the Top 10 chart on streaming over at DC Universe is making sure it stays that way.
Even the most “I am not an MCU person” knows that the franchise has not been able to maintain a stellar record for years now as for every winning title (Loki), there are six others ready to drown out the rare victory. And as if maintaining the rapidly spiraling corners of its multiverse wasn’t enough, the studio had to bear the brunt of Sony Pictures’ bad decisions as well.
Madame Web and Dakota Johnson’s misunderstanding that starring as its titular character makes her a part of the MCU. Though, by some unexplainable miracle, this disastrous creation is somehow reversing its fate on streaming as you read this
In the days since the release and accelerated decline of the film, Johnson has criticized the experience of being a part of the film. Yes, the story is beyond disappointing, the dialogues make you want to pour melting glass into your ears, and it doesn’t even pass as a parody – a feat Thor: Love and Thunder managed to nab – but the lifeless and expressionless acting of the Fifty Shades Grey star? That’s completely on the actress, no matter how much she complains.
Obviously, those at Sony and by extension, the MCU, were not thrilled with the relentless airing of her grievances, which recently prompted Russell Crowe – Thor 4’s Zeus, the most powerful Greek god with a weird accent who was hilariously defeated with insulting ease — to spectacularly roast Johnson for grumbling about Madame Web.
But, in the end, the unwanted Spider-Man spin-off is finally tasting the success it failed to grasp at the box office as well as on Netflix where it momentarily spiked only to lose the momentum just as quickly.
As of now, Madame Web is also languishing on HBO Max, home to the box office flop The Flash and other DCEU (and future DCU titles), and steadily climbing the top 10 chart (per Flix Patrol). At this very moment, it rests on the third position, just one rank away from the #1 currently occupied by Dune: Part Two, which is already reeling from its double defeat.
While MCU films call Disney Plus their home, the studio’s joint ventures with Sony and the latter’s solo (mis)adventures mostly make themselves comfortable over at Netflix. But clearly, Sony is desperate to turn Madame Web’s failure into a barely-there success and as long as it grabs onto its current rank with both hands, there is a chance that maybe, just maybe, even though there will probably never be a Madame Web 2, it will at least just live life as a box office flop.