While nobody really knows all of the ins and outs for certain except from the parties involved, one thing everyone can agree on is that Scarlett Johansson suing Disney hasn’t been a good look for the company. It was a bold and yet entirely justified move from the Marvel Cinematic Universe star, who felt that her potential earnings had been severely impacted by Black Widow premiering on Disney Plus Premier Access, without her contract being amended.
As things stand, Black Widow‘s box office haul is sitting at just under $360 million, making it one of the most successful Hollywood blockbusters of the pandemic era. However, Ant-Man is the only installment in the franchise since the end of Phase One that made less than $600 million, so Johansson’s pay packet has suffered a substantial hit.
Disney labeling her as greedy and then having a member of their legal team call the lawsuit a PR stunt wasn’t a great move in terms of optics, and with Kevin Feige said to be furious over the whole situation, there was absolutely no chance that they were going to let the battle be dragged into a courtroom with the eyes of the world watching.
With that in mind, it’s little surprise that it looks as though the all-powerful media conglomerate are looking to settle out of court, but it’s unlikely they’ll be handing over the $50 million sum that Johansson believes she could have made had all of the performance-related bonuses and box office milestones been ticked off were Black Widow to enjoy a full and uninterrupted run in theaters. Talk of more lawsuits from the likes of Emma Stone and Emily Blunt has subsided for now, and Disney will want the story out of the headlines ASAP.