Dakota Johnson Denounces Madame Web's Creative Failures

Madame Web stands as one of the most disastrous superhero films ever made, collapsing at the box office under a torrent of scathing reviews. Its release set the unwanted record for the worst opening weekend in Sony's Spider-Man film history and marked the first Marvel movie since Fox's ill-fated Fantastic Four reboot to miss the number one spot.

Even the legendary game director behind Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima, offered a review of just six words. IGN managed a bit more, critiquing the film for an "overcrowded" screenplay weighed down by "unnecessary characters, tired archetypes, and generic dialogue."

Following this, and the subsequent failure of Kraven the Hunter, reports suggest Sony has abandoned its Spider-Verse ambitions to focus on next year’s anticipated hit, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

So, what exactly went wrong with Madame Web? The post-mortem has been extensive. Last year, actress Emma Roberts, who played Mary Parker, blamed the film's poor performance on modern internet culture, where "everything is turned into a joke." A single line from the trailer, which audiences mercilessly mocked, didn't even appear in the final movie.

Sydney Sweeney, who portrayed Julia Cornwall (Spider-Woman), admitted she was simply "along for the ride." She later used a Saturday Night Live monologue to highlight her other acclaimed roles, completely distancing herself from the superhero film by stating, "You definitely did not see me in Madame Web."

Now, Dakota Johnson, the film's star, has expanded on her critique, delivering strong comments that hint at the fundamental creative problems plaguing the project from the start.

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Speaking to the Los Angeles Times while promoting her rom-com Materialists, Johnson stated plainly about the failure: "It wasn't my fault."

"There's this trend now where too many creative choices are made by committee," she explained. "Or by people who lack any creative instinct. It's incredibly hard to produce art or compelling entertainment that way. I think with Madame Web, it began as one thing and morphed into something entirely different. I was just along for the ride at that stage. But it happens. Big-budget movies fail constantly."

These remarks echo her earlier comments to Bustle, where she argued: "You can't create art based on spreadsheets and algorithms. I've long believed audiences are very perceptive, while some executives have underestimated them. People can always sense when something isn't genuine."

Ultimately, Johnson appears to take a philosophical view of the experience. "I'm not dwelling on it," she added. "There's no part of me saying, 'I'll never do that again.' I've been in small films that also didn't succeed. So what?"

Sony's official Spider-Man universe currently consists of six films: Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, and Kraven the Hunter. In April, Venom star Tom Hardy discussed the failed attempts to create a crossover with Spider-Man.

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