After Brie Larson’s The Marvels bombed, some seem to attribute the failure of Madame Web and Birds of Prey to being female superhero films.
Though Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel raked in a billion dollars at the box office, the follow-up to her 2019 blockbuster seemed to have missed the mark. The team-up film The Marvels released last year to a terrible opening weekend and was a box office disaster. Despite also featuring heroes such as Monica Rambeau and Ms. Marvel, the film was a flop.
An X user pointed out that three all-female superhero team-up films had bombed at the box office and had received terrible responses from audiences. Apart from The Marvels, the user mentioned Birds of Prey and Madame Web to be the worst superhero films of all time. However, fans seem to disagree.
Brie Larson’s The Marvels Gets Clubbed With Two Other All-Female Superhero Team-Up Flops
The superhero genre has taken over Hollywood ever since Marvel hit it big with the shared universe strategy. From DC Comics to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, many have tried to replicate the success of the MCU but have not fared well. This year saw Madame Web turn into a disaster and be as meme-worthy as its predecessor Morbius.
However, Marvel itself seemed to be in a tough spot until this year’s Deadpool & Wolverine, as many of its offerings received low ratings and lower box office returns. The peak of this failure streak was The Marvels, which starred Brie Larson. The film only earned $206 million against a $274 million budget, making it Marvel’s worst-performing film.
The Brie Larson-starrer was a sequel to her 2019 blockbuster Captain Marvel. Despite the presence of two other superheroes and the first introduction of the mutants, The Marvels bombed. An X user compared the failure of the film to Madame Web and Birds of Prey’s failure, with which fans disagreed.
While the ‘worst superhero films of all time’ moniker certainly has a lot more contenders (no one can forget Justice League and Superman’s lip), the all-female superhero team-up films seem to have always been a miss.
Why Did Films Like The Marvels, Birds of Prey, And Madame Web Fail?
A still from Madame Web | Credits: Sony Pictures
Despite terrible responses and box office numbers, films like Birds of Prey and The Marvels have also received positive responses, with the former especially considered to be a fun, R-rated, niche comic book film that just was not meant for the masses. The Brie Larson-starrer too has its fans, with X-Men’97 actress Lenore Zann appreciating it.
Variety also attributed the failure of Birds of Prey, which had a lackluster domestic opening of $33 million, to the brand value of Harley Quinn not being at the forefront of the film (including in the title). Also, the film was released in February 2020, a few weeks before the world shut down due to the global pandemic.
The DC film also was rated R, limiting its audiences to older folk and even its reach in China, one of Hollywood’s biggest markets at the time. The failure of Madame Web can also be attributed to shoddy writing, which has been a staple in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe films such as Morbius and Venom.
The Marvels is available to stream on Disney+. Madame Web is streaming on Netflix while Birds of Prey is available on Max.
