Thanks to Sony Pictures' largely abysmal track record with its Marvel movies, most fans didn't have high expectations for Madame Web. So, when the movie arrived with 12% on Rotten Tomatoes and made only $100.3 million worldwide, it wasn't exactly shocking.
Despite boasting a decent cast and a director with superhero experience in SJ Clarkson (Jessica Jones, The Defenders), very little about Madame Web worked. Eventually, it became a subject of ridicule and is now destined to be remembered as one of the worst superhero movies ever made.
Dakota Johnson led the movie as Cassandra Webb, and faced the wrath of critics and fans alike for what proved to be a...peculiar...performance. Even after an unhinged press tour, the actress has, amazingly, managed to avoid Madame Web completely derailing her career.
The Fifty Shades of Grey star is currently taking centre stage in Calvin Klein's latest underwear campaign, and unsurprisingly, the campaign has everyone talking (to view the video, you may have to follow the link to Instagram).
It's hard not to feel for most of the actors who got caught up in Madame Web's...web...but they've mostly moved on from the project with minimal damage to their careers.
Doing the rounds to promote Materialists last summer, Johnson was asked about Madame Web and bluntly responded with a laugh, "It wasn’t my fault."
She added, "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. And it’s really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way. And I think unfortunately with 'Madame Web,' it started out as something and turned into something else."
"And I was just sort of along for the ride at that point," Johnson continued. "But that happens. Bigger-budget movies fail all the time. I don’t have a Band-Aid over it. There’s no part of me that’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll never do that again’ to anything. I’ve done even tiny movies that didn’t do well. Who cares?"
Regardless, Marvel fans have reacted to Johnson's partnership with Calvin Klein by hilariously sharing their newfound love for Madame Web. Some are even jokingly (we think) hoping that Sony might consider moving forward with a sequel now...