Dakota Johnson’s Madame Web Deserved a Better Marvel Movie

Every year brings one or two movies that turn into critical punching bags. Unfortunately for the increasingly muddled, confusing Sony Spider-Man Universe, which has yet to actually feature Spider-Man after four films, Madame Web is that movie for the year thus far. Madame Web follows Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic who develops clairvoyant abilities and must protect three young women who are destined to become heroes in the near future. Sony has taken an unusual approach of building out the early days of this cinematic universe with characters who are largely not known to the general moviegoing audience, save for two surprisingly fun, charming Venom films with Tom Hardy.

Madame Web and Dr. Morbius, (the latter of whom headlined his own disastrous movie in 2022 starring Jared Leto) are not household names, but their characters offer a lot of interesting potential in the hands of a studio that wants to do something creative. These films feel pretty lazily thrown together, with the filmmakers, cast, and crew given no real sense of direction about how they might connect, or what the story will even be about. Madame Web suffered greatly due to rushed changes made to both the script and the edit on a studio-level, and if there’s one person who is certainly not to blame for the film’s failure, it is Dakota Johnson.

Madame Web

Cassandra Webb is a New York City paramedic who starts to show signs of clairvoyance. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she must protect three young women from a mysterious adversary who wants them dead.

Release Date

February 14, 2024

Runtime

1h 56m

Writers

Kerem Sanga , Matt Sazama , Burk Sharpless

Production Company

Columbia Pictures, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, TSG Entertainment

Dakota Johnson Brings the Right Energy and Tone to ‘Madame Web’

Dakota Johnson feels more aware of the kind of movie she is in than just about anybody involved in the making of Madame Web. Johnson tends to bring a particular vibe to her roles that some audiences find monotonous or disinterested, but her somewhat awkward, subdued affectation really works depending on the part. She’s also given performances in films like Suspiria that prove she is more than capable of doing something big and different. But the energy Johnson brings to Madame Web is pretty perfect for the film.

Cassandra Webb is written as a cynical, burnt-out person who has no ambitions to be seen as a hero. Her powers are thrust upon her unexpectedly. She reacts the way you’d expect a real person to, as she is unwillingly roped into a deadly adventure. Johnson plays Webb as frustrated, confused, tired, and just over it all. This is not a characterization seen in many superhero movies, and it gives Madame Web a comedic edge that is not entirely unintentional. Many viewers have noted Madame Web‘s status as a movie with a lot of unintentional comedy, but it is clear that some of Johnson’s best moments in the film are meant to be funny.

This is especially evident in the sequence where Webb sits at Mary Parker’s (Emma Roberts) baby shower and awkwardly explains that her own mom died during childbirth, to the horror of everyone else in attendance. The way Johnson plays this scene is key to understanding what she’s bringing to the movie. Johnson’s humorous approach is one bright spot in an otherwise dull movie.

‘Madame Web’ Didn’t Commit to Its Bold Ideas and Exciting Potential in the Spider-Man Mythos

In spite of the efforts of Johnson, and a lot of talented people involved in the film like director S.J. Clarkson (who directed a great early episode of Succession, “Prague”), and Sydney Sweeney, Madame Web fails to stand out in the right ways among the massive pool of superhero films. The movie’s early 2000s aesthetic made it stylistically interesting, and the early vision sequences hinted at some kind of Final Destination meets Spider-Man story that could have gone over well, but Madame Web takes forever to commit to any one idea.

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Madame Web is further proof of the superhero empire starting to dwindle, with studios scrambling to throw anything at the wall. If this is the approach you take, you end up with movies that feel unfinished, uncaring, and unremarkable. Madame Web is a premise that offers interesting story-ideas, and great potential with a wide variety of characters, some beloved and some new, but every risk the film takes is miscalculated. Reserving the “good stuff” like getting to see Johnson, Sweeney, or anyone else in the film actually put on a super-suit and fight somebody, for a few brief vision sequences of the movie we could’ve had is a terrible call. Those sequences don’t seem notably promising, but they at least offer something more than a story about Uncle Ben’s coworker defeating her foe with fireworks and a Pepsi sign. With Uncle Ben and Mary Parker in the story, and the film ending with Mary’s unnamed child being born, this film comes frustratingly close to actually tying into a Spider-Man story in a meaningful way, backing off at the last possible minute.

Despite Sony neglecting to have any sort of cohesive vision for what Madame Web should have been, there are a few hints at a good version of this movie buried somewhere. While Johnson’s performance is one of the few things that works in the film, her experience making the film seems to reflect how audiences felt about it. During the hilarious press-run for this movie, Johnson not-so-subtly distanced herself from the project, and expressed that her Madame Web experience had pushed her from wanting to work in franchise filmmaking. That means we probably shouldn’t expect a Madame Web sequel anytime soon, or ever. The best thing that could come out of this mess is that Sony realizes what hasn’t been working with this attempt at a franchise, and gives the filmmakers and performers more leeway to do what they do best.

Madame Web is available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix