Madame Web will be remembered as one of the most notable misfires in superhero cinema history. The film was a critical and commercial disaster, crashing at the box office amid a wave of negative reviews. Upon its release, it made headlines for the wrong reasons—recording the worst opening weekend ever for a Sony Spider-Man-related film and becoming the first Marvel-connected movie since Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot to miss the number one spot at the box office.
Even renowned game developer Hideo Kojima, known for his work on *Metal Gear Solid* and *Death Stranding*, could only muster a six-word response to the film. Meanwhile, IGN offered slightly more detail, criticizing the film for an “overcrowded” script filled with “extraneous characters, basic archetypes, and generic dialogue.”
The failure of *Madame Web* was soon followed by another underperforming entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe: *Kraven the Hunter*. In response, reports emerged that Sony had effectively abandoned its shared cinematic universe strategy to focus instead on *Spider-Man: Brand New Day*, a project expected to deliver much stronger results in 2025.
So what exactly went wrong with *Madame Web*? There has been plenty of speculation since its release. Last year, Emma Roberts—who portrayed Mary Parker in the film—suggested that internet culture played a major role in shaping public perception, noting how "everything is made into a joke." A now-infamous line from the trailer went viral for all the wrong reasons, despite not even appearing in the final version of the movie.
Co-star Sydney Sweeney, who played Julia Cornwall (a.k.a. Spider-Woman), seemed to distance herself from the film entirely. During a *Saturday Night Live* monologue, she highlighted her other acting credits while making no mention of her role in *Madame Web*, essentially disowning the film by saying: "You definitely did not see me in Madame Web."
Dakota Johnson Blames Studio Interference
Now, Dakota Johnson—who starred in the titular role—has offered some of the most pointed commentary yet about the film's downfall. Speaking to the *Los Angeles Times* during the promotional tour for her new romantic comedy *Materialists*, Johnson made it clear that she doesn’t take personal responsibility for the film’s failure.
“There’s this thing that happens now where a lot of creative decisions are made by committee,” she explained. “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. 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.”
These recent comments build upon earlier ones Johnson made following the film’s release, when she told *Bustle*: “You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bulls\*\*t.”
Despite the controversy and disappointment, Johnson remains philosophical about the experience. “I don’t have a Band-Aid over it,” she added. “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?”
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Dakota Johnson expressed frustration over the production challenges behind Madame Web. Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images.
Sony’s 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 a recent interview, Tom Hardy—who played Eddie Brock/Venom—shared insights into the failed attempt to bring Venom into the wider Spider-Man cinematic fold.
