Few movies have birthed as many memes as Madame Web, and the cast knows it well. However, not all of them are pleased by the internet phenomenon the film started — case in point: Emma Roberts.
In a new interview with Variety about her new Prime Video film Space Cadet, Emma Roberts was asked about the public perception of Madame Web and used the opportunity to blame the film’s poor reviews on internet culture.
“If it wasn’t for internet culture and everything being made into a joke, I think that the reception [to Madame Web] would've been different,” Roberts claimed in her interview, adding: “And that’s what bums me out about a lot of stuff, even stuff that I’ve done, is people just make such a joke out of everything now.”
“I’m not intimidated by failure, and I’m not intimidated by people having negative thoughts about something,” Roberts continued. “I personally really loved Madame Web. I really enjoyed the movie. I thought everyone in it was great. The director, S.J. Clarkson, I think did an amazing job. She’s the reason I wanted to do that movie.”
Roberts also claimed there’s no such thing as a fool-proof formula to success. “Things work; things don’t work. Everyone likes to act like they can predict if they’re going to work or they’re not. And the truth is, you can’t,” she said. “Things do badly, and then they blow up later on TikTok. Things do well, but then you watch them, and you’re like, ‘This did well?’ There is no secret. It’s about doing something goodish and it hitting at the right time. Everything else is like a wish and a prayer.”
While it’s clear Roberts, who plays a young version of Mary Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man’s mother) in Madame Web, does not regret her involvement in the film, we can’t say the same about all her cast members. Speaking to Bustle in March, Dakota Johnson, who plays the lede in the film, admitted she would “probably never do anything like [Madame Web] again” because of her personal preferences.
“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?’” Johnson told Bustle.”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.”
Sydney Sweeney also famously claimed she “was just hired as an actress” for Madame Web, so she “was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen” when asked to speak on the film’s negative reviews by the L.A. Times. Though the movie later served as inspiration for her SNL debut, Sweeney told British GQ she ultimately didn't regret making the movie because it served as a networking strategy.
“To me, that film was a building block; it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony. Without doing Madame Web, I wouldn’t have a relationship with the decision-makers over there,” Sweeney claimed. “Everything in my career I do not just for that story, but strategic business decisions. Because I did that, I was able to sell Anyone But You. I was able to get Barbarella.”
For better or for worse, Madame Web is not etched into pop culture’s zeitgeist, so we shall if it reaches cult status in the next few years and opinions change. The potential is certainly there!
