Industry Experts Weigh the Reality of Superhero Fatigue After Disastrous ‘Madame Web’ Opening

Sony and Marvel’s latest Spider-Man Universe property, Madame Web, tanked at the box office during its extended six-day opening frame. The Dakota Johnson-led thriller opened on Valentine’s Day and grossed a paltry $26.2 million in over 4,000 theaters. It's scuttled plans for a potential franchise and has experts debating just how much superhero fatigue is affecting audiences.

Madame Web’s opening is one of the lowest ever for a Marvel character, making The Marvels’ $47M November opening look strong in comparison. The last Marvel property to gross less than Madame Web was 2008’s Punisher: War Zone, which amassed $4M in its opening frame. That was an R-rated sequel without any ties to the current MCU, though.

Madame Web is a Sony production rather than a Marvel Studios one, and was mostly a standalone film separate from MCU. The film's marketing tried to reassure fans that they needn’t be familiar with any other movies or TV shows to enjoy this one. But the movie does tie itself to the Spider-Man universe, trying to spark a franchise now seems unlikely at best.

“Sony thought they could make this a Valentine's Day movie by half appealing to men and half appealing to women, but in the end, they made and marketed a movie that didn't appeal to either group,” Bruce Nash, founder of box office tracking site The Numbers, told Men’s Journal.

He says audiences are tired of cynical, increasingly watered-down superhero cash-ins. “We can genuinely call superhero fatigue, at least for ‘cookie cutter’ superhero movies,” Nash explained. “There's still room for more original movies to break out though, regardless of genre.”

While not everyone agrees on the concept, they concur that the movies need to get more creative to win back audiences. “We have to be careful in assuming it's fatigue of superheroes in general and look at it as fatigue of the familiar, undercooked superhero movie,” Box Office Pro’s Shawn Robbins told Men’s Journal. He pointed out that there have been “genuine hits” in the last 12 months, like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Across the Spider-Verse.

Robbins explained that, before the superhero genre was completely diluted, audiences were quicker to take a chance on a movie starring an unknown character. But after countless star-studded sequels, that’s no longer the case. Madame Web had little in the way of star power, despite rising talent Sydney Sweeney in a supporting role. Its sensible budget (around $100M) also curtailed the spectacular stunt sequences audiences now expect.

“When a movie template has been repeated and mimicked as frequently as the superhero multi-genre has for the past two decades, any story based on that canvas has to increasingly feel like an event,” he reasoned.

Right now, Marvel isn’t easing up on its superhero output. The studio has three films—Deadpool & Wolverine, Kraven the Hunter, and Venom 3—on the calendar for 2024 alone. Franchise refresher Captain America: Brave New World is set for 2025. DC’s Joker: Folie à Deux is set for an October 2024 release, as well.

Robbins thinks a few of those titles could swing the superhero pendulum back the other way. “Deadpool & Wolverine and the Joker sequel are certainly candidates to be among this year's biggest box office hits,” he promised.