Russell Crowe calls out Dakota Johnson for ripping apart the artistic value of her Marvel flop Madame Web

Russell Crowe has reacted to Dakota Johnson's criticism of her Spider-Man spinoff, Madame Web, which was a box office flop following its release earlier this year.

When asked about his thoughts on the 34-year-old actress' comments about big-studios struggling to make superhero movies with artistic value, Crowe, 60, questioned her motives for accepting the role of Cassandra 'Cassie' Webb.

'I don't want to make any comments to what anybody else might have said or what their experience is, but … you're bringing out the impish quality of my humor,' he told GQ UK, with a laugh.

He continued: 'You’re telling me you signed up for a Marvel movie, and some f**king universe for cartoon characters … and you didn’t get enough pathos?'

'Not quite sure how I can make this better for you. It’s a gigantic machine and they make movies at a certain size,' he noted.

Russell Crowe has reacted to Dakota Johnson 's criticism of her Spider-Man spinoff, Madame Web, which was a box office flop following its release earlier this year; seen this month

Crowe, who has earned various accolades, including an Oscar and two Golden Globe Awards, over his career, has previously starred in multiple superhero flicks, including Man of Steel (2013) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

While speaking about the projects, he described them as 'jobs' and explained: 'You know: here’s your role, play the role. If you’re expecting this to be some kind of life-changing event, I just think you’re here for the wrong reasons.'

'It can be challenging, working in a blue-screen world, when you have to convince yourself of a lot more than just the internal machinations of your character. But for anything to be... and you can’t make this a direct comment on her because I don’t know her and I don’t know what she went through, and the fact that you can have a s**t experience on a film… Yeah, you can. But is that the Marvel process? I’m not sure you can say that,' Crowe added.

The actor added: 'I haven’t had a bad experience. I mean [on Thor], OK, it’s a Marvel movie, but it’s Taika Waititi’s world, and it was just a gas every day, being silly... You know, so many of these directors have a certain skill level – freaking genius people. Think about what’s required, right? It’s everything: the composition, the framing, the colour, the music, what’s left outside the camera.'

In March, one after Madame Web's release, a source told DailyMail.com that 'lots of people at Sony are questioning her [Johnson's] star power and 'how she reacted to this failure will likely come back to haunt her.'

They claimed that bosses had been fine with Dakota's costar Sydney Sweeney making a playful joke on Saturday Night Live, but drew the line at Dakota's constant barbs.

'It is OK to joke about your movie not doing well and even lean into the bad reviews like Sydney Sweeney did on SNL with her monologue - but producers and Sony aren't laughing over Dakota's continued dragging of how she sees the fallout of Madame Web and how she isn't taking any responsibility for its lackluster results,' they said.

'Not every movie is going to work, but a lot of hard work is put towards even bad movies and for your star to s**t on it is a bad look.'

When asked about his thoughts on the Fifty Shades of Grey star's comments about how big-studios struggle to make superhero movies with artistic value, Crowe, 60, questioned her motives for accepting the role of Cassandra 'Cassie' Webb (seen in the 2024 film)

In March, one after Madame Web's release, a source told DailyMail.com that 'lots of people at Sony are questioning her [Johnson's] star power and 'how she reacted to this failure will likely come back to haunt her' (pictured earlier this year)

They continued: 'Dakota is being looked down on over her talk of the film because everyone in the production is thinking, what if the movie was still the same but also a box office gem?

'She would be talking about sequels and probably praising herself over its good fortune.'

During a recent interview with Bustle, Dakota - who is reportedly engaged to boyfriend Chris Martin - hinted that she predicted the public backlash.

'Unfortunately, I'm not surprised that this has gone down the way it has,' she said.

'But it was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again, because I don't make sense in that world. And I know that now.'

She continued: 'Sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it's one thing and then as you're making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you're like, "Wait, what?"

During a recent interview with Bustle, Dakota - who is reportedly engaged to boyfriend Chris Martin - hinted that she predicted the public backlash against the box office flop; seen in February 2024

Disgruntled moviegoers voiced their distaste online, with one person calling the film 'a series of misses and wasted opportunities' on X

'But it was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that's ripped to shreds, but I can't say that I don’t understand.'

Dakota plays the titular character, Cassandra Webb, a New York City paramedic

She then seemed to take a shot at movie bosses as she explained: 'It's so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made - and it's even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what’s really freaking me out - decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it's made by committee.

'Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not.

'Audiences will always be able to sniff out bulls**t. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to f***ing want to see those.'

The insider warned that Dakota's comments could come back to haunt her but conceded that she was just one new film success away from getting back in the good graces of executives.

'In typical Hollywood fashion, if Dakota's next film is a major hit, then everyone will be kissing her a** again,' they said. 'Right now, not so much.'

Dakota, the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, plays Cassandra Webb, a New York City paramedic endowed with psychic abilities owing to a mutant gene, akin to the concept of X-Men.

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In the movie, Dakota, the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, plays Cassandra Webb, a New York City paramedic endowed with psychic abilities owing to a mutant gene, akin to the concept of X-Men

Her character faces the task of safeguarding three women from an enigmatic adversary.

The film belongs to Sony's Spider-Man universe, distinctly separate from the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This movie could now potentially be one of the last collaborations between Sony and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following Disney's acquisition of Marvel.

Indeed, critics called the film 'as dumb and schlocky as the worst of the genre' and 'a laughable affair' - with the movie debuting with a 12 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Disgruntled moviegoers also voiced their distaste online, with one person calling the film 'a series of misses and wasted opportunities' on X.

Another described it as 'a clunky, poorly-written, messy, and sloppy movie packed with some mediocre editing and performances.'

The movie was being eyed to kick start a new franchise, with Madame Web using her clairvoyant abilities to assist three new Spider Women: Sydney Sweeney's Julia Cornwall, Isabela Merced's Anya Corazon and Celeste O'Connor's Mattie Franklin

The Rotten Tomatoes audience score currently sits at 57 per cent, a definite improvement but also not too noteworthy.

The film also has middling marks from fans on CinemaScore (C+) and just 1.5 stars on PostTrak, via Deadline.

Speaking on February 17 after the film's release, Dakota confirmed to Magic FM that she hadn't viewed the film and stated: 'I don’t know when I’ll see it. Someday.'

After humorously recalling skipping the Madame Web premiere to 'go have dinner' instead, Dakota insisted her decision had nothing to do with the film itself.

'For me, it’s a way to not have, like, an existential crisis,' she admitted. 'Not watching my movies is like self-care.'