Now that a Black Widow solo film outing is in the works—with Cate Shortland directing from a script by Jac Schaeffer—it seems like an appropriate time to float theories. Some folks are already positing about how Avengers: Endgame and/or Captain Marvel will inform the plot, though those thoughts don’t seem to take into account the actual synopsis for the standalone movie. One theory that can be laid to rest, though, is the notion that the Scarlett Johansson-led film will join Logan and Deadpool in the “R-rated Marvel movies” hall of fame.
ComicBook.com recently asked Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about the possibility of an R rating for the movie, and he responded, “It never was going to be. Somebody writes, ‘I hear it’s R-rated!’ And then everybody writes it up.” So, while Natasha Romanoff’s standalone adventure will (eventually) see her trying to fly under the radar as a former KGB operative in the United States after the fall of the Soviet Union, the red she adds to her ledger won’t be brutally depicted for all to see. It also sounds like the movie itself remains a bit theoretical, too—there’s currently no release date, and Feige also told ComickBook.com that “There are no mandates to make any more than two films a year. As we’ve seen in the last couple years, when it naturally happens and when there are ideas and when there are teams ready to go, we’re not going to hold something back. We’ll make it.”