Madame Web star Sydney Sweeney shares her reaction to Sony Marvel movie's hugely negative reception – and it's pretty blasé

Mar. 14, 2024

“I was just hired as an actress in it”

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WhileMadame Web, the new outing inSonyMarvel’s ever-expanding Spider-Man universe, is considered a camp classic on Twitter, it’s fair to say that wider audiences… didn’t love the Cassandra Webb movie. Star Sydney Sweeney isn’t too bothered by the backlash, though.

“I was just hired as an actress in it, so I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen,” Sweeney candidly toldLos Angeles Timeswhile promoting her upcoming religious horror Immaculate.

An origin story of sorts, Madame Web follows New York-based paramedic Cassie (Dakota Johnson), as it reinvents her comic book beginnings and presents a new way in which she becomes the eponymous superhero. Directed by Jessica Jones' S. J. Clarkson, it sees Cassie inexplicably finds herself with psychic abilities following a near-death experience.

Onboard a train one evening, she sees a horrifying vision of a man murdering three young women – one of which is Sweeney’s character Julia Cornwall – and saves them all by intervening, subsequently thrusting the foursome into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the would-be killer.

The film is said to have pulled in a disappointing $96.9 million, which is very little when you consider it cost around $80 million to make. In terms of reviews, it’s currently rated just 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, beating out the likes ofMorbiusandVenom: Let There Be Carnagein terms of lowest score.

Madame Web is in theaters now. If you’ve already seen it, check out our list ofupcoming superhero moviesheading our way. Listen to our chats with stars Dakota Johnson and Tahar Rahim, as well asdirector S. J. Clarkson, on a previous episode of theInside Total Filmpodcast.

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I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.

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