Since the moment the trailer dropped, Sony's superhero film "Madame Web" has been a meme.
The film's star Dakota Johnson uttering the baffling string of words, "He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died," was instant fodder for jokes about the impending movie.
But upon its release Wednesday, it appears memes couldn't save "Madame Web." In fact, the film is poised to flop, according to critics and box office analysts — despite continuing to make waves on social media.
"Madame Web," which stars Sydney Sweeney alongside Johnson, debuted with a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates movie reviews into a numerical score. Critics called the film "as dumb and schlocky as the worst of the genre" and "a laughable affair." Even the line that earned it the adoration of the internet — the one about "researching spiders" in "the Amazon" — didn't make the final cut of the film, according to Rolling Stone, reigniting a flurry of memes and commentary about it. Johnson also revealed that there were "drastic changes" made to the film's script, which some suggested could be behind the issues with the movie.
"RELEASE THE 'He was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died' CUT," one person posted on X.
Another user posted a screenshot of the person giving the film a poor review, adding "Just found out the 'he was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders right before she died' line isn’t in the movie."
"Madame Web" stars Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a New York City paramedic who develops psychic abilities through a mutant gene — think X-Men — and must protect three women from a mysterious adversary.
The film marks what could be one of the final Sony-Marvel Cinematic Universe mashups since Disney acquired the titan superhero brand, Marvel.
But even Disney's Marvel films have struggled recently. Movies like the 2023 "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" received a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes. And 2023's "The Marvels," which starred Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson, earned an uncharacteristically low 62% review score on Rotten Tomatoes (its audience score was much higher at 82%). And Disney+ series like 2023's "Secret Invasion" scored only 53%.
Some have pointed to "superhero fatigue" as the reason that more recent titles have flopped. Where films like "Black Panther" previously earned rave reviews and Oscar nominations, it appears that new releases are being received with less enthusiasm.
Still, the so-called "fatigue" doesn't appear to be slowing Disney's rollout of films. On Wednesday, it announced the cast for the upcoming film "The Fantastic Four," which will star Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
This isn't the first time a Sony-Marvel film has had a whimper of a release while being exalted online. The 2022 film "Morbius," starring Jared Leto, earned a 15% review score on Rotten Tomatoes. It was memed to such a degree, with social media adopting phrases like "It's Morbin' Time," that Sony re-released the film in theaters off of the social media craze. That move, however, backfired when the film outflopped itself, grossing just $85,000, according to Vulture.
"Morbius" and "Madame Web" were both written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.
The press cycle for "Madame Web" has also been more meme than substance. A clip of Johnson reacting to a reporter's question about the "researching spiders" line circulated widely after Johnson failed to see what was so significant about the quote.
"Why did that go viral?" Johnson asks in the clip.
The interviewer explains how the line sounds funny "out of context."
"But isn't every sentence 'out of context' out of context?" Johnson replies, appearing to stump the interviewer.
While the reception for "Madame Web" is less than stellar, Johnson has continued to earn rave reviews for her responses in interviews about the film.
One person posted: "The Madame Web press junket is one for the all times."
Many agreed that though they found Johnson hilarious, they also feared her.
"I’d be so scared to say anything dumb around this woman," one person wrote.
