In the run up to the release of Black Widow, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige praised star Scarlett Johansson and suggested that, despite the character’s demise in Avengers: Endgame, he was “excited to continue working” with the actress in some capacity in the future.
Although Johansson’s subsequent lawsuit with Disney over Black Widow’s hybrid release seemed to throw a spanner in the works (with Feige said to have been “angry and embarrassed” by Disney’s handling of the situation), last month’s settlement has cleared any potential stumbling blocks with Feige announcing that the star is set to reunite with Marvel Studios for a “top secret” project which she will also produce.
As reported by Deadline, Feige made the announcement during a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, where Johansson was receiving the American Cinematheque Award. As always with Marvel, details are being kept under wraps, although Feige did stress that the project had nothing to do with another appearance as Natasha Romanoff.
Johansson became the first Marvel star to serve as executive producer on one of the studio’s movies with Black Widow, and suggested on several occasions during the promotional campaign that the solo film could launch its own “standalone franchise”. With that in mind, the most obvious thought is some kind of Black Widow sequel, spin-off, or Disney+ TV series focussing on Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, and/or the other Black Widows that were freed from the Red Room.
At the moment, all we can do is speculate, but be sure to let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth if you’re excited about this new project, and what direction you’d like to see it take…
In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller “Black Widow,” Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Black Widow is directed by Cate Shortland (Lore) and sees Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff alongside William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross, Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family) as Yelena Belova, O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Mason, David Harbour (Stranger Things) as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Rachel Weisz (The Favourite) as Melina Vostokoff and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) as Dreykov.
