Madame Web is fast approaching and, in just a few weeks, we'll finally see whether Sony Pictures has turned things around since the so-so reaction to movies like Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius.
Unsurprisingly, some major liberties have been taken with the source material and, in a world where Spider-Man doesn't exist, we'll meet "Cassie" and a group of young women destined to become spider-themed superheroes. They'll need to fend off Ezekiel, a villain who somehow learns they'll kill him in the future.
On the surface, it all sounds pretty intriguing; however, following the recent release of a featurette which saw Adam Scott's character (believed to be Ben Parker) open a fortune cookie, we can't help but wonder if Sony is gonna Sony by having him discover the "Great Power" line there!
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Madame Web star Dakota Johnson shared new insights into how she's approached the role.
"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,'" the actress explains. "Sometimes it’s hard to relate to someone shooting lasers out of their eyes."
"I trusted [director SJ Clarkson] so much," Johnson continues. "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."
"I didn’t get to actually drive [a car] into the diner, which is really a bummer," she adds. "I really wanted to, but I guess they don’t want to put their lead actor in actual danger, unless you’re Tom Cruise. But I’m getting there! I’m working on it."
Johnson clearly had a blast starring in Madame Web and it's evident the character will be seeing a great deal more action than her comic book counterpart. As of now, we've seen nothing to suggest this version of Cassandra Webb will be blinded or left hooked into a web-like life support machine.
Then again, that sort of evolution is what sequels are for...
Meanwhile, in another universe...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 may have clairvoyant abilities. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women destined for powerful futures...if they can all survive a deadly present.
SJ Clarkson directs from a screenplay she wrote with Claire Parker. Morbius scribes Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless are also expected to be credited for their work on the script, though it's currently unclear which draft they wrote. The movie's confirmed cast members include Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, Emma Roberts, and Adam Scott.
Madame Web arrives in theaters worldwide on February 14.