Black Widow standalone film gains momentum
Black Widow has been an important player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since she was introduced in 2010's “Iron Man 2”. However, unlike fellow Avengers teammates like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff has never had the opportunity to star in her own movie, instead either being a supporting character or part of an ensemble. But that may finally change, as Marvel has reportedly hired a screenwriter to pen a “Black Widow” standalone movie.
According to The Wrap, Marvel has hired Jac Schaffer to write the movie. No story details were revealed in the report, but evidently Marvel is now committed to seeing its resident superspy finally venture out on her own. Schaffer made her feature film screenwriting debut with 2009's “TiMER”, which she also directed. Since then, she's written the 2014 Blacklist-recognized “The Shower” (which Anne Hathaway will star in and produce), the upcoming “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” remake “Nasty Women” and the Disney short “Olaf's Frozen Adventure”.
Although a Black Widow movie has been a topic of discussion for years, this is the first time that it finally looks like it might become a reality. Last year, Scarlett Johansson said that she's talked with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige about making a standalone adventure for the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent-turned-Avenger-turned-fugitive, and they both agreed that she deserves her own story, but it's all a matter of timing. Kevin Feige later said that Black Widow was one of the characters that Marvel Studios is “creatively and emotionally” committed to giving solo movie attention to in Phase Four. Although Marvel hasn't unveiled an official Phase Four slate yet, so far “Spider-Man: Homecoming 2” and “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” are the only movies that have been officially announced for post-“Avengers 4”.
When Black Widow was last spotted, in “Captain America: Civil War”, she had gone on the run from the US government after helping Captain America and Winter Soldier escape to track down Helmut Zemo. It's unclear if the Black Widow movie would be set in the present day period, or if it would turn back the clock and show us one of her missions as a spy, be it for S.H.I.E.L.D. or the KGB. Either way, given how popular Black Widow is both in the comics and the movies, it's better late than never that the MCU has decided it's worth exploring what her own story would look like.
Scarlett Johansson will be back in action as Natasha Romanoff on May 4 for “Avengers: Infinity War”, and also return for “Avengers 4” on May 3, 2019.
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