Marvel has beat DC at the movies in a multitude of ways, but there’s one area where they’re going to lose: the DCEU will release a superhero movie starring a woman long before Marvel does. Next summer will see the release ofWonder Womanbut it won’t be until June 12, 2025 that Marvel, 11 years after the release ofIron Man, will finally put a woman in the lead role of a superhero film withCaptain Marvel.
It didn’t really have to be that way. Fans were enamored of Black Widow afterThe Avengers, but the studio dragged its feet and while the character remains popular, there are still no firm plans to give her a movie of her own.Varietyrecently askedScarlett Johanssonabout her thoughts on a Black Widow movie, and the actress replied:
I would like for it to happen under the right circumstances. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to mine that story line. She’s got a really rich origins story. There’s a lot of places you can go — you can bring it back to Russia. You could explore the Widow program. There’s all kinds of stuff that you could do with it. You could really uncover the identity of who this person is, where she comes from and where she’s part of.
Johansson seems to think that if we do get a film for the character, it will be a prequel, but she’s open to other possibilities as well, especially since The Avengers have now fractured following the events ofCivil War:
There’s plenty of back story. Or not. It could be something else. Where do the Avengers go? They are underground. What happens then? What happens after it all falls apart? There are so many ways you’re able to go. I think it would just have to be very much like its own specific thing. It would have to have its own specific vibe. It would have been totally different than any of the other standalone films. I think if the fans wanted it enough, then it would probably become a reality.
I think that fans want it enough, and it still hasn’t become a reality. It could be because that Black Widow, a character with no superpowers, doesn’t lend herself to the world-ending stakes that Marvel movies typically require. That being said, if Marvel wanted to scale back a bit and do their riff on the spy genre, Black Widow would be the perfect character for that kind of movie.
But if Marvel wants to finally give the character the movie she deserves, and if they want Johansson for the role, they may have to finally put something on the books because she’s not sure how much longer she wants to play the role:
If I did it, I’d have to do it while I still actually wanted to wear a skin-tight catsuit. I don’t know how much longer that’s going to be.
Johansson will next be seen leading the action filmGhost in the Shelland she will return forAvengers: Infinity War, which starts filming later this year.
