Marvel fans have been crying out for a solo movie for Natasha Romanoff for years, with the studio finally answering our calls in next year’s Black Widow. The problem with the film coming out after Avengers: Endgame, however, is that the prequel has to be a one-off, given the super-agent’s death in the team-up flick. Or does it?
Scarlett Johansson recently hinted that BW could be the start of a new series as she gave a speech at Elle’s Women in Hollywood Awards last night and, when talking about Black Widow, she described it as “a standalone franchise.” Like NY Times’ Kyle Buchanan points out, this is an interesting choice of words for a film that’s so far only been described as a one-and-done prequel.
ScarJo notes that the upcoming BLACK WIDOW is the first Marvel movie produced by one of its actors. She also referred to it as a “standalone franchise” which is interesting if you expected it to be a one-off based on… you know pic.twitter.com/5UkCAXXnYu
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) October 15, 2019
Black Widow will be set prior to Avengers: Infinity War, which is how Nat will still be alive and kicking in it. But surely Marvel can’t squeeze a series of movies into this period, right? After all, we’ve been assured that the folks who died in Endgame will stay dead, so what gives? Well, it’s possible that the future of this standalone franchise lies with another character altogether.
ScarJo’s first MCU vehicle will also introduce Yelena Belova, the second Black Widow in the comics, who’ll be played by Florence Pugh. We Got This Covered told you the other week that Marvel plans to produce a Black Widow 2 starring Pugh’s character, which would be set in the present-day, and Johansson’s comments here now seem to confirm our scoop.
Then again, what with alternate timelines and parallel universes being introduced in Endgame, there are no doubt various ways for ScarJo to return for more movies as well. Sticking with the first one for now, though, Black Widow blasts into theaters on May 1st, 2020.
