After a search that took them half the year, and years and years before that filled with hemming and hawing from Kevin Feige and the rest of the Marvel brass, it looks like the long-demanded Black Widow solo film is finally coming to fruition, with a woman behind the camera, to boot.

Cate Shortland, who is best known for the 2012 World War II picture Lore, will helm the Scarlet Johansson-starring spinoff of the popular MCU character. Black Widow, who first appeared in Iron Man 2 and has since been a vital part of the Avengers films since, has long been the subject of online support for a solo film of her own.

And while the studio had been toying with the idea for years, it just never ended up happening…but then Wonder Woman hit the scene last year and literally blew the doors off to the tune of $821 million worldwide and their stance changed. How about that?

TiMER director Jac Schaeffer wrote the most recent draft of the script, and Shortland fended off other directors in contention like Amma Asante and Maggie Betts. THR also reports that Melanie Laurent was also in the mix, and funny enough…I was just watching Inglorious Basterds the other day and her great scene in the movie theater right at the end.

According to reports, the film will be set before the events of the Avengers films, and will presumably focus on her past as a spy for the Russian government aka how she got all that red on her ledger.

The timing on this announcement is curious, given its star’s recent controversial remarks, but I’m certain there will be some very excited fans today.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Kudos to an Aussie director. I like the tendency to go after smaller-film/indy directors that are capable of quieter and more still-shot cinema. Worked out with Waititi

  2. Wasn’t the Black Widow movie already made, as Jennifer Lawrence’s RED SPARROW? ;)

    I am glad this is (hopefully, finally) coming to pass. I feared Marvel was getting ready to dump the character, considering how little she had to do in INFINITY WAR … or that the studio had decided Johansson was “too old” (at 34) to carry a movie.

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