Madame Web actress Dakota Johnson decided to kill off the already abysmal box office expectations for the upcoming film by claiming it can be hard for audiences to relate to superheroes.
Cassandra Webb/Madame Web (Dakota Johnson) in Columbia Pictures MADAME WEB.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly about the upcoming Sony Pictures production that sees Johnson play Cassandra Web in what’s being described as an “origin story,” she shared how she wanted to ground the film.
Johnson stated, “It was really important to me that she’s really human and grounded in reality, and that her life feels like, ‘Oh, I can relate to that.'”
She then shared, “Sometimes it’s hard to relate to someone shooting lasers out of their eyes.”
Entertainment Weekly’s Devan Coggan then added Johnson deadpanned, “I mean, not for me. I obviously do that all the time.”
Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb in Madame Web (2024), Sony Pictures
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As noted by Fandom Pulse, Johnson would also share her experience about being on set and how she’s unsure if it will translate to an entertaining film on the big screen.
She told the outlet, “I’ve never really done a movie where you are on a blue screen, and there’s fake explosions going off, and someone’s going, ‘Explosion!’ and you act like there’s an explosion. 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 okay job!’”
“But I trusted her. She works so hard, and she has not taken her eyes off this movie since we started,” she concluded.
Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb in Madame Web (2024), Sony Pictures
While Johnson claimed it can be difficult to relate to superheroes despite their cultural dominance and longevity, the film’s director SJ Clarkson shared what one of the primary themes of the film will be, “I really love the idea of somebody who can see into the future, but until they can really understand their past and appreciate where they are, they can’t use that power.”
She elaborated, “Without wanting to overload it with profundity, I thought that’s an amazing thing to explore: If we understand our past and see where we are in the present, we can then make better choices for the future.”
Clarkson later added, “I loved the psychological, cerebral nature. Not to sound too wanky about it, but it’s about what’s going on in [Cassie’s] head and her grappling with that. Is she going insane? Is this real? She’s battling with that within herself and trying to understand it.”
Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb in Madame Web (2024), Sony Pictures
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Furthermore, Clarkson detailed that the film is unconnected to any other Marvel properties.
She said, “She’s definitely in a standalone world. I was able to just have free rein and let the movie be what it needed to be, as opposed to trying to force it into something else. That was a gift, in a way, to be able to take something and bring a fresh and I hope original take to it.”
Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced), Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson), Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney) and Mattie Franklin (Celeste OConnor) in Columbia Pictures MADAME WEB.
The official description also makes this clear, “In a switch from the typical genre, Madame Web tells the standalone origin story of one of Marvel publishing’s most enigmatic heroines. The suspense-driven thriller stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who develops the power to see the future… and realizes she can use that insight to change it. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women bound for powerful destinies…if they can all survive a deadly present.”
Ezekiel (Tahar Rahim) in Columbia Pictures MADAME WEB.
What do you make of Johnson and Clarkson’s comments about the upcoming film?
NEXT: Rumor: ‘Madame Web’ To Alter Spider-Man’s Iconic Line: “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”
