Madame Web first reactions and reviews call it an "embarrassing mess"

But she isn't the only Spider-Woman in town and, as was teased in the film's first trailer, teams up with three women – Julia (Sydney Sweeney), Mattie (Celeste O'Connor) and Anya (Isabela Merced) – to fight the villainous Ezekiel 'Zeke' Sims.

The film is the fourth feature in Sony’s shared Spider-Man Universe, following Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius, and, with its multiverse focus, is an attempt to steer the franchise in a new direction.

But sadly, the first reviews and reactions to Madame Web appear to be overwhelmingly negative, with Inverse's Hoai-Tran Bus calling it "just about the worst movie you'd find at the bottom of that Walmart dollar bin".

Meanwhile, Variety’s Peter Debruge wrote: "Madame Web was never going to touch the relatively high-concept, Disney-made Avengers movies... But guess what? Tickets still cost just as much as they would for a more canonical Marvel movie. So why settle for the knock-off?"

Collider's Lisa Laman said the film "wastes a talented cast on a superhero movie shockingly devoid of tangible humanity", while IGN's Francesca Rivera said: "Madame Web tries to connect many plots and people together to a confusing, yet ultimately bland result."

Rolling Stone's David Fear also slated the movie. Under a headline reading: "Madame Web isn’t as Bad As You’ve Heard. It’s So Much Worse," he wrote: "It is the Cats: The Movie of superhero movies. Not a single decision seems of sound mind. Not a single performance feels in sync with the material."

Elsewhere, Matt Ramos said on Twitter, which was recently rebranded as X: "Morbius was better," while Cris Parker wrote: "Madame Web is an embarrassing mess. Talented stars wasted on probably the worst comic book movie I have ever seen."

He continued: "Filled with atrocious dialogue, awkward editing, & all around laughable structure. I sat there baffled scene by scene someone approved this. The memes will redeem it."

Madame Web will be coming to cinemas on 14th February 2024. Visit our Film hub for more new and features, or find something to watch with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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