Ever since Scarlett Johansson made her Marvel-ous debut as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, MCU fans have been clamoring for a standalone adventure for her brilliant, resilient double agent. At this point, Johansson and Marvel boss Kevin Feige have probably spent enough time fielding enough questions about the possibility of a solo outing for Black Widow that they could have shot the damn thing already. There’s still no word on if or when that would happen, even as Black Widow has become one of brightest stars in Marvel’s galaxy of superheroes.
For what it’s worth, Johansson feels the pain of fans who want to learn more about the Widow program and Natasha Romanoff’s backstory. And, as she tells Variety, she’s plenty keen on getting a film made, but she’s holding out for the right idea.
I would like for it to happen under the right circumstances. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to mine that storyline. 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.
In the wide-ranging interview, Johansson talks about learning the lengths of her own versatility, and bucking against being pigeonholed as a bombshell, an archetype she believes draws its strength from its sexuality. This brought the conversation ’round to Black Widow, who proves just as seductive with her ideas as her perfect application of a winged eyeliner. Johansson shares Marvel fans’ enthusiasm for her character, even if she’s not fully aware of the extent to which they want to see the female Avenger get her due on the big screen. But when asked if the film could be a prequel, she unloaded some more ideas for the project:
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 can 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.
Maybe Johansson should join forces with Hayley Atwell to get both a Black Widow and an Agent Carter movie off the ground.