New insight into Madame Web‘s box office failure has come through the star of the Sony/Marvel movie. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe is over. The franchise came to an end after Kraven the Hunter marked another disappointing box office run for the franchise, with movies like Morbius and Madame Web previously going down that route. Even Madame 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 the Los Angeles Times, Dakota Johnson opened up about why Madame Web did 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 about Madame Web being underwhelming. The actress claims it was not her fault and outlines how “a lot of creative decisions are made by committee.” Johnson also addressed how Madame Web‘s story started 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 how Madame Web‘s story would have originally followed Johnson’s Cᴀssandra Webb and the other Spider-Women trying to protect a young version of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. The MCU’s Spider-Man even fought Ezekiel Sims in official Madame Web concept 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 Cᴀssandra 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 with Madame Web was confirmed by the concept art. As she addressed Madame Web becoming 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 Cᴀssandra Webb or a new character.

Our Take On Dakota Johnson’s New Madame Web Comments

The Superhero Movie Could Have Worked If One Crucial Change Had Been Made

The tragic part about Madame Web bombing 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 new Madame Web comments, 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 like Madame Web was made worse, which is disappointing.

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Source: Los Angeles Times