Superhero movies are everywhere nowadays, thanks to various cinematic universes that are in play. That includes Sony's Spider-Man universe, which is noticeably lacking in any actual Spider-Men. The latest of these movies was the infamous Madame Web movie (streaming now with a Netflix subscription), which struggled both financially and critically. Actress Isabela Merced recently reacted to the movie getting lambasted, saying "It does have a sad taste in my mouth."
While Madame Web struggled at the box office, the project has already become a bit of a cult classic, as audiences poked fun at Dakota Johnson's performance and the wild ADR used for the movie's villain. Isabela Merced was part of the Madame Web cast list as Anya Corazón, and spoke on Happy Sad Confused about what it was like working on the infamous project from the inside. As she put it:
It's really interesting, I feel like every actor that I know, that I admire, has that one movie that I'm like, 'It's so camp.’ I think we all -- the group chat was fun. With all the tweets that would come out and all the memes, the group chat was very fun.
It sounds Merced has a good attitude about Madame Web's performance, and the way it has already become a bit of a camp classic. What's more, she and her co-stars like Sydney Sweeney have seemingly seen all those memes that have his Twitter in the months since the superhero movie arrived in theaters.
One of the biggest points of contention in Madame Web is that the trio of young heroes are only suited up for a few minutes, and never even get their powers in the main timeline of the movie. Some fans want to see them return for an upcoming superhero movie, where they could finally kick some ass. But given how poor the movie performed, that seems unlikely. Later in her same podcast interview, Isabela Merced got real about the disappointment that came with the movie, offering:
But at the same time, it does have a sad taste in my mouth, because there were people that worked on it that worked really hard and maybe this was their opportunity to have a big break and I just can't help but think about those people that put in the work. I'm lucky enough to have other opportunities right now, that's what I feel really blessed about, but I do feel bad for the other people that put their all into this and, there's so many cooks in the kitchen, so even though you might mean well, somebody else might not understand the assignment.
Points were made. Because while the internet has made countless memes of Madame Web, there was a full cast and crew who worked hard to make the project happen. So all the jokes do sting a little.
Luckily for Merced, she's got another superhero project coming down the line: the upcoming DC movie Superman. She'll be portraying Hawkgirl in the new DCU, and will no doubt have way more action and superheroics this time around.
Madame Web is on Netflix now, and Superman will hit theaters July 11th. In the meantime, check out the 2025 movie release dates.
