One surprising Marvel title is in the top five of streaming titles?online this week. In the latest Nielsen?rankings, Madame Web draws us into her web of life and destiny?at number three in the streaming rankings. Now, the Sony movie might not have done the box office numbers some would have hoped. But, there’s little to sneeze at when it comes to more than 1 billion minutes watched on Netflix. The Marvel film sat at the top of the streamer’s rankings when it premiered as audiences were much more willing to journey to the Amazon with Dakota Johnson on their couches than in the theater. Still, these numbers would prove kind of puzzling?for people who see this whole Sony Spider-Man universe as a punchline.
Madame Web is among some of TV’s biggest standouts?in the Nielsen ratings from May 13-19. Bridgerton is at the top of the list with recent episodes dropping that week. Grey’s Anatomy only beat Madame Web by a few hundred thousand streams. The top five is rounded out by other TV favorites, namely Bluey and Young Sheldon. But, imagine going back in time, (not to prevent your own death), but to tell yourself that the most harshly-received superhero movie in years?is basically cleaning up on streaming because it was widely available. It’s a weird entertainment landscape we inhabit. And, it’s not getting any more normal anytime soon from the looks of things.
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Is Madame Web Worth Watching?
While the Internet spent most of the run-up to Madame Web dunking on the promotional campaign?and the meme-worthy dialogue from the trailer, the question of how good it is remains. For ComicBook’s Jenna Anderson, Madame Web isn’t a good movie per se. But, it’s far from the crime against humanity you’ve seen all the big-name social media accounts calling it for most of this year. (In fact, some ofNetflix’s Top-25 titles probably comprise movies that are just as bad, if not worse than this project.) Still, if you’re not riled up by the mere existence of Madame Web, you can find something to laugh about, or even examine for yourself in this strange corner of Sony’s Spider-Man universe.
“While Madame Web might not contain the heart-pumping tension, massive franchise connections, or painfully authentic verisimilitude of many of its modern contemporaries, it makes a convincing argument that an entertaining-enough story can still be found outside of those traits,” Andersen argues. “The charisma of its lead heroines?and the specificity of its premise prevent it from being too boring, too goofy, or too irredeemable to ignore. For better or for worse, Madame Web further illustrates that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has potential when not trying to be a modern cinematic universe at all, and instead being a springboard for the most niche genre stories imaginable.”
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