It's been a decade since Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in IRON MAN 2, but the hero won't be receiving her first standalone movie until next year. While many fans were hoping that we would have gotten a BLACK WIDOW solo movie long before now, particularly after the character's death in AVENGERS: ENDGAME, Johansson isn't one of them.
In the recently released Black Widow: The Official Movie Special Book, Scarlett Johansson said that she's glad the BLACK WIDOW movie is landing now rather than earlier in her MCU career.
If we had made a Black Widow standalone back then, it would be such a different film to this one. Natasha's sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame gave me a totally different perspective on who she is. Before, I don't think I would have been able to show people who Natasha really is, what drives her, and show her emotional core.
"I don't think we'd be able to cut that deep back then," Johansson continued. "It would have probably been much more of a straight-up spy thriller that maybe would have been a lot flashier in a different kind of way and just scratch the surface of what we do in this movie." BLACK WIDOW is set after the event of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and finds Natasha Romanoff on the run and forced to confront the darker parts of her past. In addition to Johansson, the film also stars Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, David Harbour, and O.T. Fagbenle.
The official synopsis for BLACK WIDOW:
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 currently slated to hit theaters on May 7, 2021.