Sydney Sweeney’s Viral Burn: Madame Web’s Demise is Sealed

Madame Web’s failure has led to the movie sitting among the least successful superhero films ever, and Sydney Sweeney’s SNL joke cements that.

Madame Web star Sydney Sweeney seems to be over her superhero movie’s failure, with the actress having delivered a sharp joke that is the final nail in the Sony Marvel movie’s coffin. Sweeney played Julia Cornwall in the film, giving life to one of the four main characters of Madame Web. While the movie’s trailers promised an eventful affair that would see Julia join three other stars as a group of Spider-Man-like heroines, the film barely touched on that premise, instead hoping to tease that story for a possible Madame Web 2. However, that sequel is unlikely to ever come.

Madame Web had the worst opening weekend for a Spider-Man-related movie. Affecting the movie’s opening was the fact that many people refunded their tickets on the movie’s opening day, likely as a response to Madame Web’s overwhelmingly negative reviews. Several aspects contributed to the movie’s failure, including unnatural dialogue, a poor villain, lack of action, weird camera angles, and more. Those factors led to Madame Web becoming joked about by those who either watched the film or caught clips of it on social media. Now, Sweeney herself has gotten into the Madame Web jokes, essentially confirming the movie’s disappointing fate.

Sydney Sweeney’s SNL Madame Web Joke Explained

The Julia Cornwall Actress Hit The Final Nail In The Movie’s Coffin

Sweeney was the latest celebrity host of popular sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, with the actress addressing Madame Web‘s failure in her opening speech. Sweeney first mentioned her roles in popular projects like the drama series Euphoria and the R-rated rom-com Anyone but You before getting to her Madame Web jab. Sweeney said, “You might have seen me in Anyone but You or Euphoria. You definitely did not see me in Madame Web.”

Sweeney’s joke is the final nail in Madame Web‘s coffin. While it is one thing for the movie’s bad dialogue and overall failure to be mocked on social media, having one of the movie’s most popular stars publicly make fun of the film is a new low for the latest entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. It took weeks for Madame Web‘s worldwide total to surpass the numbers of Morbius‘ global opening weekend, so while the movie being in a disastrous position is understandable, Sweeney’s joke is definitely a new low for Madame Web.

Sweeney’s Casting Was Supposed To Appeal To Sony’s Key Audience Target

Madame Web’s Cast Could Not Save The Movie

Sweeney’s Julia Cornwall was one of Madame Web‘s three young leads, which included Isabela Merced’s Anya Corazón and Celeste O’Connor’s Mattie Franklin, with Dakota Johnson’s older Cassandra Webb taking care of the trio. From its casting to its trailers and the movie itself, Madame Web seemed aimed at a specific audience, targeting female audience members and young social media users. What Sony did not expect, however, was that the film’s designed target audience would play a huge part in spreading jokes about the movie’s disappointing elements on social media.

Sweeney was a major part of Sony’s attempt to appeal to its target audience with Madame Web. As mentioned by the actress in her SNL monologue, Sweeney is most famously associated with her roles in Euphoria and Anyone but You. Those two projects are online sensations. The Glen Powell co-led Anyone but You broke records for rom-com movies in recent years and used TikTok to go viral over its main song. On the other hand, Euphoria is one of the most commented shows online due to its depiction of heavy subjects like drugs, depression, and sex in relation to teens.

Madame Web’s Anti-Marketing Has Come Full Circle

The SSU Does Not Have A History Of Success With That Approach

With Madame Web‘s negative reviews painting a negative picture of the movie right out of the gate, the SSU film only had the chance of using “anti-marketing” as its strategy. Star Dakota Johnson made the rounds online with several interview quotes where she spoke about the movie, its cast, and dialogue in a lighthearted way. Sweeney’s SNL joke hits that point home, with the actress making fun of the movie instead of being on the show to celebrate its success. Attempts at generating interest in Madame Web in a “so bad it’s good” way have just not worked.

That is something the studio should already have known, as Madame Web is not the first movie in the SSU to receive the same treatment from audiences. Jared Leto’s Morbius also became the butt of online jokes due to the movie’s failure. However, Sony tried to lean into the meme and re-release Morbius in the hopes of seeing a box office bump from the film’s viral jokes, which backfired. At least Madame Web should not follow that same tragic route.