The release of SONY’s Marvel-associated “Madame Web” happened in theaters on February 14, and almost on the same day it amassed an extreme amount of crippling reviews and rock-bottom low rotten tomatoes. The film has been compared to one of Marvel’s previous trainwrecks, Morbius. Some even say that Madame Web is worse than Morbius. But why?
Spoiler warning.
One complaint of the film was the main villain, Ezekiel. Viewers claimed he was static, wasted potential, and boring. Senior student Jordan Hernandez said, “I’m sorry, but the bad guy was really hard to watch. He wasn’t even that threatening.” Other viewers said that he was too predictable, and almost corny. Senior student Adam White said, “Ezekiel as a character honestly just seemed like the movie needed a villain so they just jammed him in there.” Ezekiel also created many plot holes in the story. “He was the most powerful spider-man in the story, yet he died from falling off a building that was only about three stories high. As if he couldn’t just shoot a web and just sling up and away. I don’t know. It’s weird,” White continued.
Additionally, the entire story of the movie revolves around a plot hole. In the beginning, the aforementioned Ezekiel steals a special spider from the zoologist mother of Cassandra, a.k.a. Madame Web, and later he almost murders her and uses the spider to give himself powers. However, Cassandra’s mother was saved by a native tribe who later lets a spider of the same species bite her before she dies and gives birth to Cassandra. The driving force of the story is Ezekiel having a vision where three mysterious spider-men murder him. He later finds out that the vision takes place in the future, and that the three murderers in his vision are currently teenagers named Julia, Anya, and Mattie. So Ezekiel sets out to save himself by murdering them, but they are all saved by Cassandra, who later becomes Madame Web, and acts as a mentor for them. It sounds pretty strong, but after finishing the movie and witnessing Ezekiel’s death, you’ll notice that the story never showed the girls being bitten by the spider, which means that there is no way they could have gotten superpowers. So how were they able to kill Ezekiel in the future? How could Ezekiel even have a vision of it? He was defeated before the girls ever became spider-men. It’s a massive plot hole that does not make sense.
Although, there is some light in darkness. Senior student Ryan Siddiq said, “I actually loved it. A few things didn’t make sense but it’s literally also a movie about people with spider powers. It was entertaining either way.” Maybe all the plot holes and negative aspects could be mended in a sequel, however after the reviews and faults of Madame Web, it is unlikely that SONY and Marvel will work on expanding this story.
