Sony Pictures boss blames critics for Spider-Man Spin-Off failure

In an interview with Los Angeles Times looking back on his seven years at the helm of Sony Pictures, outgoing CEO Tony Vinciquerra talks about the studio’s successes during his tenure as well as his disappointments. This includes the last movie to be released while he’s still boss: Kraven the Hunter.

The Spider-Man villain spin-off starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson was “probably the worst start we’ve had in the 7 1/2 years (I’ve been at Sony), so it didn’t do very well, which I still don’t understand because the movie isn’t a bad movie.” he said.

In a follow-up question, Vinciquerra was asked more about The requirements-as well as another infamous Spidey-adjacent version from 2024: Madame Webb.

“Let’s just touch Madame Webb for a moment, he said. “Madame Webb underrepresented in theaters because the press just crucified it. It wasn’t a bad movie and it did great on Netflix.”

He went on to blame the press Madame Webbfailure and others. “For some reason the press decided they didn’t want us to make these movies The requirements and Madame Webband the critics simply destroyed them. They also did it with Poisonbut the audience loved it Poison and made Poison a huge hit. These aren’t terrible movies. They were just destroyed by critics in the press for some reason.

(Morbiusreleased in 2022 was not mentioned.)

On Rotten Tomatoes, Kraven the Hunter has a 15% Tomatometer rating from critics; movie fans gave it a 73% on the “Popcornmeter” scale. Madame Webbranked worse (11% from critics; 55% from fans); while the latest Poison movie, Venom: The Last Dancehad the highest agreement between critics and audiences (41% vs. 81%).

Still, just because fans who vote on Rotten Tomatoes may have positive feelings, that doesn’t necessarily mean box office gold. Most recently, Kraven the Hunteras Vinciquerra himself admitted, didn’t leave much of a mark at the checkout.

The outgoing CEO may not have to worry about that for much longer, but he’s definitely aware that the whole “Spiderman spin-off” strategy that Sony embraced so enthusiastically in the beginning should be reconsidered going forward. “I really think we should rethink it just because he’s bitten by a snake,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “If we release one more, it will be destroyed, no matter how good or bad it is.”

Spiderman 4at least it’s on the horizon: Tom Holland returns as the web-slinger in a film directed by Dustin Daniel Cretton, arriving on July 24, 2026.

Want more io9 news? See when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Warsand Star Trek releases, what’s next for DC Universe on film and televisionand everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.