It is truly a dark time for fans of Marvel and DC comics. Despite being funded by some of the largest investment firms in the world, these two companies spent the better part of 2023 churning out one box office flop after another. Whether it’s from so called “superhero fatigue,” or from chasing an audience that doesn’t actually go to the movie theater, the recent losses at the box office have crossed into the billions for Disney and Warner Bros. Madame Web appears to be another disaster in milking the Spider-Man franchise for Sony.
We have seen Hollywood make a massive push in the last decade to try and be more diverse and inclusive, which has only resulted in heavily gynocentric films and streaming shows that few people seem to enjoy. The most recent addition to these is Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff, Madame Web, which features 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson as the title character.
This film, while being set in the same universe as Spider-Man, will not have an appearance by the friendly neighbor vigilante. Instead, Madame Web will feature an ensemble of four female protagonists and the all-too-predictable male villain. The choice to exclude what is arguably the most valuable franchise character left after the exit of Robert Downey Jr in Avengers: Endgame is mind-boggling.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dakota Johnson only added insult to injury when she lamented her lack of experience in dealing with blue screen acting.
“I’ve never really done a movie where you are on a blue screen,” Madame Web star Dakota Johnson said. “and there’s fake explosions going off, and someone’s going, ‘Explosion!’ and you act like there’s an explosion.”
She would go on to say, “That to me was absolutely psychotic. I was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to be good at all! I hope that I did an OK job!’”
She then admitted that she couldn’t imagine herself playing a superhero:
“I got sent this script, and I was like, ‘I don’t know about me being a superhero.’ I was sort of mystified by her powers. I felt like, ‘Oh, I really would love to see that superhero. I would love to see a young woman whose superpower is her mind.’”
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When discussing scenes with stunt work, she drew comparisons to herself and legendary action star Tom Cruise:
“I’m really good at it, it seems! I mean, I can do some really wild things with a car. I drove an ambulance. I drove a taxicab. I drove everything in the movie — except for flying through the air and out of a building. But other than that, I’m like, ‘Watch out, Tom Cruise.’”
This cringeworthy comparison to a massive action star like Tom Cruise aside, she may have already said too much to salvage a film that seems as if it will be dead on arrival. Any interest in side characters having their own films has proven to be minimal, and every indicator points to audiences growing weary of intersectional feminism infecting their escapism.
With a release date of February 14th, it is likely the only audience who will show up for this film are those who haven’t yet had their heart broken enough times by modern Hollywood.
Will you be watching Madame Web? Let us know down below!
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