Dakota Johnson and S.J. Clarkson and find the psychological thriller in ‘Madame Web’

By LESLIE AMBRIZ
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the first things that struck director S.J. Clarkson about “Madame Web” was that this was a superhero who did not have superhuman strength. And unlike Batman, she couldn’t just buy herself some. No, Cassandra Webb has a different kind of power: Clairvoyance. This, the veteran television director, found interesting. “Madame Web” stars Dakota Johnson as the titular character and is the first of Sony’s Spider-Man spinoffs (including “Venom” and “Morbius”) that is centered on a woman. Johnson says she never envisioned herself in a superhero movie, but she “loved that it was about a young woman whose power is her mind.” “Madame Web” is currently in theaters nationwide.