Dakota Johnson says ‘drastic changes’ were made to Madame Web script after she signed on

Sony’s new superhero blockbuster, based on Marvel comics, appears to be a critical flop

Dakota Johnson has made it clear that her new film, Madame Web, underwent “drastic changes” after she had signed on to play the title lead.

Sony’s new superhero blockbuster, which is an adaptation of Marvel’s Spider-Man universe, has been branded an “embarrassing mess” in early reviews.

Speaking to TheWrap ahead of its Valentine’s Day (14 February) cinematic release, Johnson, who leads the film as a woman who begins having visions of the future, confirmed that “there were drastic changes” made to the script.

“And I can’t even tell you what they were,” she said, laughing.

When asked about her character’s clairvoyance and having to shoot the scenes in double – the vision version and the reality version – Johnson recalled that it “tripled the amount of work”.

“It added so many different camera set-ups,” the Fifty Shades of Grey actor, 34, explained. “And it was very complex, and there’s only like minor differences between each version of the same scene, so it was like puzzle pieces, and really paying attention to what moment we’re in, and what angle we’re in, and continuity and things like that.”

She added that she got very lost while shooting several of the same scenes.

Dakota Johnson in ‘Madame Web’ (AP)

In an earlier interview with Entertainment Weekly, Johnson confessed that she had initially worried that certain aspects of the film were not “going to be good at all”.

“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,” she said.

“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!’

“But I trusted [director SJ Clarkson],” she continued, adding that she and the director were in constant contact to keep track of which scenes were real, versus those imagined by Cassandra.

Alongside Johnson, Euphoria actor Sydney Sweeney features as Julia Cornwall Carpenter, who eventually becomes Spider-Woman.

Isabela Merced, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps and Zosia Mamet also star.

As Madame Web was not widely screened for critics ahead of its release, first advance verdicts have only begun rolling in after the film’s premiere this week. And pundits have not been kind to the movie.

Madame Web is out in cinemas on 14 February.