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Superhero comic book movies have struggled for legitimacy for years and the awards season is a big part of that. Well, “Madame Web” has proven to be an awards magnet, but not by attracting the kind of awards that will help the reputation of superhero cinema. Along with two other trophies, “Madame Web” took home the Worst Picture award at this year’s Razzies.
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In case you’re wondering, no, “Madame Web” wasn’t an easy win. It faced stiff competition from the other nominees: the video game adaptation bomb “Borderlands”, the hated sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux”, Francis Ford Coppola’s star-studded mistake “Megalopolis”, and the propaganda biopic “Reagan”.
Worst Picture wasn’t the only award “Madame Web” was honored with. The film also won Worst Screenplay and Dakota Johnson won Worst Actress.
This year’s Razzies seemed intent on proving that 2024 was a bad time for comic book movies. Along with “Madame Web” and “Joker: Folie à Deux”, both “The Crow” and “Kraven the Hunter” featured prominently in the nominations.
“Madame Web” premiered last February to horrendous reviews and disappointing box office returns. While it didn’t prove to be the final nail in the coffin of Sony’s live-action Spider-Verse, it came close. After “Kraven the Hunter” proved as unsuccessful as flops like “Madame Web” and “Morbius”, reports surfaced that Sony was pulling the plug.
The animated “Spider-Verse” films and the “Venom” movies proved to be the standouts amid Sony’s many attempts to capitalize on their Spider-Man properties. Both “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” were commercial and critical hits.
While reviewers haven’t been too impressed with any of the “Venom” entries, audiences have consistently disagreed. In 2018 “Venom” took home $856 million. Neither of its sequels were quite as successful, but they weren’t too shabby. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” made $507 million and the more recent “Venom: The Last Dance” grossed $479 million.
“Madame Web” stars Dakota Johnson as the titular hero, Sydney Sweeney as Julia Cornwall, Celeste O’Connor as Mattie Franklin, and Isabela Merced as Anya Corazon. The four women combine forces to fight Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim). Having visions of the future in which three of the women are the key to his destruction, Ezekiel dons a suit similar to Spider-Man’s and attempts to murder them.
If you don’t trust the Razzies, or you do but you want to check it out regardless, “Madame Web” is currently streaming on Netflix.
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