‘Madame Web’: Dakota Johnson Talks Brutal Backlash & Is “Heartbroken” How Streamers Don’t Support Creatives

Following the disastrous showing of Sony‘s “Spider-Man” spin-off “Madame Web” and the huge blowback from both audiences and critics who all seemingly despised the film, Dakota Johnson says she’ll “probably will never do anything like it again.” Meaning: appear or star in a superhero film. In a new interview with Bustle, Johnson expressed her overall disappointment with the film but admitted she wasn’t surprised with the outcome.

READ MORE: ‘Madame Web’ Review: Dakota Johnson Can’t Save This Forgettable ‘Spider’ Money Grab

“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised that this has gone down the way it has,” Johnson said. “It was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again because I don’t make sense in that world. And I know that now.”

“But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it’s one thing, and then as you’re making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you’re like, ‘Wait, what?’” the actress told Bustle. “But it was a real learning experience, and of course, it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.”

The actress then addressed what felt like an overall frustration with the film industry, filmmaking by the committee, and how difficult it is to get passion projects made.

“It’s so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made—and it’s even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what’s really freaking me out,” she explained. “Decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee. Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. 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 bullshit. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to fucking want to see those.”

In a similar interview with L’Officiel, Johnson also went on to rail against the uncreative folks running streaming services, calling that situation just “heartbreaking.” Many creatives have cited the streaming environment as one of the more soul-crushing experiences, and the lure of their deep pockets is surely contributing to folks getting caught in the various production problems.

“The people who run streaming platforms don’t trust creative people or artists to know what’s going to work, and that is just going to make us implode,” she said. “It’s really heartbreaking. It’s just fucking so hard. It’s so hard to get anything made. All of the stuff I’m interested in making is really different, and it’s unique, and it’s very forward in whatever it is.”

Ultimately, “Madame Web” only managed to earn a poultry $91 million at the global box office. The movie turned an elderly Cassandra Webb (once voiced by Stan Lee’s wife in “Spider-Man: The Animated Series“) into a young, vibrant paramedic with cognitive powers. “Madame Web” was recently released in China and was outgrossed by re-release screenings of Denis Villeneuve‘s 2021 “Dune” movie, only earning $670,000 according to THR.

Even from the earliest interviews, it did seem as though Johnson was worrisomely under the impression that she was in a Marvel Studios movie and not a Sony movie based on Marvel characters. Sony still has “Kraven The Hunter” and “Venom 3,” to release later this year. And while we hope they’re not complete trainwrecks, there is certainly a quality control problem going on with these cash-grab spinoffs that makes audiences question why anyone would want to invest in their moviegoing time/money on them in the first place. Do third-tier “Spider-Man” villains deserve their own movies? Or is it just a matter of the dreaded and overused “superhero fatigue” excuse? Sony might just find out later this year, regardless.