Alison Willmore of Vulture is one of many critics who take direct aim at the multiversal nature of Knull as a villain — in a movie where Hardy's character says he's "done with that multiverse shit," no less — and how much his muddled exposition and one-note storyline rules detract from the mindless enjoyment that feels more like its true element.

Things have not been going well for Sony Pictures and its Spider-Man Universe (SSU) lately. "Morbius" with Jared Leto received several Golden Raspberries, Hollywood's negative awards. "Madame Web" with a listless Dakota Johnson in the lead role received scathing reviews.

Tom Hardy, from the first "Venom" on, has chosen to offset the uncoolness of doing a comic-book franchise by putting his slumming in quotation marks, playing Eddie as a borderline doofus who talks like a grown-up version of one of the Bowery Boys.