A few months ago, it looks like Scarlett Johansson had entered permanent superhero retirement. Black Widow wrapped up her Marvel contract with a final film — a prequel in fact, since her character technically already died in Avengers: Endgame. Then Johansson’s Marvel career really looked over, when she sued Disney, over the company’s decision to make Black Widow available on Disney+. She claimed that move cost her millions of dollars in salary because her contract supposedly called for her to receive a cut of box-office receipts but not streaming money.
But now this saga — which actually might be more interesting than Black Widow at this point — has taken a turn. Johansson and Disney settled their lawsuit back in September. And this week Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige hinted that Johansson was back at Marvel working on something new.
According to Deadline, Feige made the comments at an American Cinematheque tribute to Johansson, here he claimed they were collaborating on a “top secret Marvel Studios project … which he said has nothing to do with her Black Widow character, Natasha Romanoff.”
So what could it be? It seems highly unlikely Johansson is playing another Marvel character, given how closely she’s associated with Black Widow. She could perhaps voice an alien or some other kind of all-digital character, like a Rocket or a Groot or a Thanos. But she also has a very distinctive voice — it’s hard to imagine not recognizing (and even being a little distracted by) her in such an example. With all that said, I think the most likely idea is that Marvel is working on either a film or a Disney+ series for the new Black Widow character, played by Florence Pugh, and Johansson is involved as a producer. After all, Feige said it had nothing to do with her Black Widow character. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t involve another Black Widow.
In the meantime, after all that legal wrangling and fighting in the press, Black Widow is currently available on Disney+.
Sign up for Disney+ here.
Every Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best
It started with Iron Man and it’s continued and expanded ever since. It’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with 26 movies and counting. But what’s the best and the worst? We ranked them all.
