Marvel fans have long been demanding for Black Widow to star in her own movie. After all, the character has been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2010, having appeared in a total of six movies. Though a prominent figure, Natasha Romanoff has always been relegated to supporting roles while her male co-stars helmed their own movies.
However, it seems that some sense has finally been knocked into Marvel Studios. In January, a Variety update on the Black Widow movie detailed that Marvel has enlisted screenwriter Jac Schaeffer to write the script. Schaeffer is an up-and-coming writer who is currently working on Nasty Women, a female-centric take on the 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
In more recent news, the studio has also finally chosen a director for the movie. The Verge said that Cate Shortland has signed on, with Black Widow actress Scarlett Johansson personally advocating her. Shortland currently has two notable credits to her name, in the form of Lore and Berlin Syndrome. Marvel reportedly met with 75 directors before settling on Shortland. It was also noted that Marvel prioritised hiring a woman for the job.
Since the movie is still in its early stages of development, fans can only speculate on the premise. The narrative will most likely take place before the events of the first Avengers movie. Johansson has said in an interview that the storyline could focus on the Russian assassin’s training programme that churned out female spies known as Black Widows.
Bucky Barnes actor Sebastian Stan also expressed his interest in appearing in the movie, mentioning that Black Widow and the Winter Soldier have a nice history together. According to him, the Winter Soldier served as a teacher to her during the Cold War. He added, “It’s all a very… spy, thrillerish, noirish story. It would be very interesting to explore that on film.”
Despite the delay of her own solo movie, the Black Widow has had an interesting journey outside of film. Remember the time Disney faced backlash over the lack of Black Widow merchandise? The official Avengers: Age of Ultron line on Marvel’s website, for instance, only had four Black Widow-themed items out of the 60 items on sale. Of course, merchandisers have learned since then. Black Widow finally had her own toy line a year later, this time for Captain America: Civil War.
Aside from the movies, the flame-haired spy also features prominently in video games. She appears as a downloadable character for the popular fighting game, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, as well as a playable character in mobile games Marvel: Future Fight and Marvel Contest of Champions. She also has her own Black Widow-inspired title among Slingo’s library of online slot games. Though not a direct tribute to the Marvel version, the game still stays true to the character, with its themes of mystery and intrigue, and graphics that indicate its noirish nature. Seeing as such a company would develop a title as a sole tribute to her, it’s only natural for Marvel to finally give her the attention she deserves.
Since Marvel’s Phase 3 will end with Captain Marvel and Avengers: Infinity War part 2, it’s safe to assume that the Black Widow film will be part of Phase 4, along with Black Panther 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
While we’re waiting for more updates on the Black Widow movie, you can watch the latest Marvel characters debut on screen. Back track to Fuzzable’s review on the Cloak and Dagger series to learn more.
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