Sony was really hoping for Kraven the Hunter to break the curse of the SUMC, but after another underwhelming premiere, it looks like these Spider-Man spinoffs are finally over.
Even if that is the case, Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra thinks that the SUMC entries didn’t get a fair shake in the cinemas, and the press was absolutely brutal to the films which led to their poor box office numbers. Talking to the LA Times, he was asked about Kraven and Madame Web, to which he explained:
“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.
Admittedly, the announcement of these Spider-Man spinoffs without Spider-Man was met with confusion when they were first announced. It was actually a miracle that Venom managed to succeed, but critics think that the main reason is because Venom is a popular character by himself, regardless of what anyone says—and that’s what brought in the box office numbers.
When it came to Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven, a lot of fans think that what makes them interesting is their connection to Spider-Man, and they didn’t have enough popularity to make Venom numbers; add to that poor word of mouth, and it’s a recipe for a box office bomb.
Personally, I do love Madame Web. If the Venom movies are going to embrace the camp, MW basically does the same, and there are a lot online that can attest to its camp value—that’s why the film did so great on Netflix.
As for the future of the SUMC, Vinciquerra does admit that they need to rethink their direction moving forward. He says, “I do think we need to rethink it, just because it’s snake-bitten. If we put another one out, it’s going to get destroyed, no matter how good or bad it is.”
We don’t know what Sony wants to do moving forward, but I’m in the camp that they should just embrace the Spider-Verse and focus on multiple running stories with different Spider-Men at the helm.
For now, Kraven the Hunter is out in theaters.
