Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra recently told the Los Angeles Times that “Kraven the Hunter” is “probably the worst launch we had” in the nearly eight years he’s been at the studio, adding: “I still don't understand,

The financial failure of “Kraven” stung more after “Madame Web,” starring Dakota Johnson, flopped, taking home only $100 million, and “Venom: The Last Dance” became the lowest grossing film in the franchise. Of “Madame Web,” Vinciquerra blames film critics for its failure.

When asked about the splashy failure of the Spider-Man-adjacent Kraven, which has yet to cross the $20 million mark in the U.S. in its first two weeks, Vinciquerra admits the long-delayed superhero movie was “probably the worst launch” Sony had during his tenure. But he stands up for the Aaron Taylor-Johnson vehicle, calling it “not a bad film.”

"For some reason, the press decided that they didn’t want us making these films out of 'Kraven' and 'Madame Web,' and the critics just destroyed them."

Kraven the Hunter bombing seemed like it could be the nail in the coffin for the Sony Spider-Man Universe (that doesn’t have Spider-Man). Madame Web opened the year with disappointing totals. Then Venom: The Last Dance also performed poorly relative to the previous Venom films.