Dakota Drags the Studio

Dakota Johnson is done staying quiet. After the critical and commercial failure of Madame Web, the actress is calling out what she sees as the real reason behind the flop — the studio system itself.

In the 2024 superhero film, Johnson starred as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic with psychic abilities who’s drawn into a mission to protect three young women — played by Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor — from a mysterious threat. The movie was meant to expand Sony’s Marvel universe. Instead, it bombed spectacularly.

Now, Johnson is speaking out about how things went off the rails. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, she laid the blame on decision-makers with no real connection to the creative process.

“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,” she said. “And it’s really hard to make art that way.”

This isn’t the first time she’s been vocal about frustrations on the project. Johnson previously mentioned “drastic changes” to the script after she had already signed on and expressed concern about Hollywood’s growing reliance on algorithms over actual storytelling. She’s also been clear: audiences aren’t as dumb as execs sometimes assume.

Critics weren’t kind to the film either. In a brutal one-star review, The Independent called Madame Web “a desperate comic book misfire that seems embarrassed by its own existence.” Ouch.

While Johnson once suggested she’d never return to superhero films — saying she just “doesn’t make sense in that world” — her tone has softened. She’s not ruling anything out, noting that she’s done small indie films that didn’t do well either. “Who cares?” she added.

Looking ahead, Johnson is set to star in Materialists, the upcoming film from Past Lives director Celine Song. She plays a high-end New York City matchmaker caught between the perfect partner and her chaotic ex, played by Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans. The romantic comedy hits theaters on August 15 and is already generating buzz as a return to the charm of ‘90s rom-coms.

From superhero chaos to classic romance — Johnson may be leaving the web behind, but she’s not stepping out of the spotlight anytime soon.