]
Was Madame Web always doomed to fail? Dakota Johnson reveals why she thinks the infamous movie was a box office flop.
Madame Web is an odd artifact of Sony’s attempt to make a Spider-Man universe without Spider-Man. The Dakota Johsnon-led film was lampooned by fans and critics alike, absolutely bombing at the box office. Despite this, the project will likely be forgotten, sandwiched between the infamous Morbius and the final outing of Kraven the Hunter.
Yet no film is born bad from its conception. Movies are a massive production with thousands of moving parts. Failure, in any sense, is a team effort. This seems to be something Dakota Johnson realizes. When looking back at her time making Madame Web, the actress revealed that there were quite a lot of cooks in the kitchen during production, and not all of them knew how to make a film that was worth watching for the audience.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Johnson told People Magazine. “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.”
Who’s To Blame For Madame Web Flopping?
From everything fans have heard since the release of Madame Web, Dakota Johnson’s analysis of things seems to be right on the money. Reports suggest that the flop was originally centered around the team of spider heroines protecting a young Peter Parker, with the film poised to be canon to the MCU. This was changed so deep into production that merch representing this fact was actively being made before getting shelved.
A look at the cancelled ‘Madame Web’ popcorn bucket and theatre cup. pic.twitter.com/wBS9vYytSW
— The MCU Den (@mcu_den) June 1, 2025
Madame Web was likely the nail in the coffin for Sony’s Spider-Man villain universe, with Kraven the Hunter just digging its boot into the grave. It’s not likely that Dakota Johnson will star in a high profile superhero project for some time; a shame given the actresses’ pedigree. However, sometimes a flop is out of control of both the fans that want to see the film and the creatives putting things into production behind the scenes.
Madame Web is now streaming on Netflix. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Sony Universe of Marvel Characters and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
