New insight intoMadame Web’s box office failure has come through the star of the Sony/Marvelmovie.Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is over. The franchise came to an end afterKraven the Huntermarked another disappointing box office run for the franchise, with movies likeMorbiusandMadame Webpreviously going down that route. EvenMadame Web’s cast, which counted with popular stars like Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Adam Scott, could not fare well at the box office, ending its worldwide run at a measly $100.5 million. Over a year later, the film’s star opens up.
Speaking with theLos Angeles Times,Dakota Johnson opened up about whyMadame Webdid not work and how she feels about the movie’s negative performance. Given how she is the main star of the film, Johnson has been targeted by many of the complaints aboutMadame Webbeing underwhelming. The actress claims it was not her fault and outlines how “a lot of creative decisions are made by committee.” Johnson also addressed howMadame Web’s storystarted out in one place and ended in a completely different one throughout development, which impacted its quality. Check out the full quote below:
“It wasn’t my fault. There’s this thing that happens now where a lot of creative decisions are made by committee. Or made by people who don’t have a creative bone in their body. And it’s really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way. And I think, unfortunately, with ‘Madame Web,’ it started out as something and turned into something else. And I was just sort of along for the ride at that point. But that happens. Bigger-budget movies fail all the time.
I don’t have a Band-Aid over it. There’s no part of me that’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll never do that again’ to anything. I’ve done even tiny movies that didn’t do well. Who cares?”
What Dakota Johnson’s New Madame Web Comments Mean
The SSU Movie’s Story Seems To Have Undergone A Major Shift
There have been rumors for a long time about howMadame Web’s story would have originally followed Johnson’s Cassandra Webb and the other Spider-Womentrying to protect a young version of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker.The MCU’s Spider-Man even fought Ezekiel Sims in officialMadame Webconcept art. However, when the SSU movie came out, the biggest connections to the character were the fact that Adam Scott played a younger Uncle Ben, who was Cassandra Webb’s best friend, and his sister, Emma Roberts' Mary, was pregnant with the baby that would be Peter Parker.
Whether the rumors were accurate, the fact that Spider-Man was at one point set to connect withMadame Webwas confirmed by the concept art. As she addressedMadame Webbecoming a box office bomb,Johnson commented on how the movie “started out as something and turned into something else.“The actress also spoke about how those decisions meant she was just along for the ride on what was no longer the entertaining concept she signed on for. Interestingly, Johnson did not close the door to a superhero movie return, be it as Cassandra Webb or a new character.
Our Take On Dakota Johnson’s New Madame Web Comments
The tragic part aboutMadame Webbombing at the box office is that the movie’s ending set up what the film should have been about in the first place.Had Sony focused on the Spider-Women in costume fighting Ezekiel Sims, then it could have been entertaining. Based on Dakota Johnson’s newMadame Webcomments, it might have even been what the film was originally set to be, as the actress was disappointed that executives made the wrong creative decision to turn the film into a completely new one. It sounds likeMadame Webwas made worse, which is disappointing.
