Madame Web (2024) would make an ideal case study in studio meddling and second guessing. The sloppy ADR, unfinished special effects and soulless characterization do little to elevate the incoherent plotting of Madame Web. Unfortunately that’s just par for the course when it comes to superhero movies these days.
Madame Web is a film made by committee whose only purpose is to launch more superhero content. The story, the characters and the world of Madame Web is secondary to these concerns. Studio heads don’t care what’s happening now, they’re worried about what’s happening next. This leaves a film like Madame Web not to the artists but to the capitalists.
This isn’t to argue that there’s something redeeming about Madame Web. It’s a flawed film of no substance no matter how one looks at it. The point is that Madame Web or any superhero movie doesn’t have to be a slave to a larger marketing plan. It’s been this thinking and this approach that has led to the fatigue of audiences with the superhero genre.
Audiences are more critical than ever of their superhero content. A superhero film has to be the work of artists, as is the case with the Spiderverse films, to get audience approval. The Marvel brand has become so diluted that only the most singular and adventurous films can sustain the studio.
