Scarlett Johansson Confirms Time Period Of Black Widow Movie

The first trailer for Black Widow arrived this week, causing hype for the movie to surge. At the same time, though, there’s the feeling that maybe this first solo outing for Natasha Romanoff is coming too late in the MCU’s trajectory. After all, the heroine just died in Avengers: Endgame. Maybe it would’ve been best for Marvel to give her her own vehicle at an earlier point over the past ten years, then?

Star Scarlett Johansson, however, feels that now is exactly the right time for Black Widow. The actress dropped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night and talked a little about what we can expect from the picture. As well as reiterating that it’s an Endgame prequel, Johansson responded to talk of this being too little, too late, while also confirming when the pic takes place.

“What can I say? Well, I think it’s already out there, it takes place after the Civil War and before the Infinity War. A lot of people have told me that the film, you know, that the film should have happened before… and they’re wondering if it’s too late for this movie now, but I really could never have made this film ten years ago when we first started our journey with Marvel.”

ScarJo went on to add that having the benefit of all of those team-up movies behind her really helped flesh Natasha out in a totally three-dimensional way in this, her first venture as a lone protagonist.

“My journey with Natasha has informed this film and it’s a character who is a fully recognized woman and I think it has a complexity to it that is just delicious. We get to do stuff now that is just good.”

When Colbert specifically asked if we’ll find out about “some of the red on [her] ledger” – i.e. the character’s dark past, famously alluded to with that phrase in The Avengers – Johansson had this to say:

“That’s with this is all about. It’s a homecoming, for sure.”

The trailer made clear that the film will explore Natasha having to face her past, and likely atone for it, too. It seems she’ll reconnect with her old Russian “family” as well – fellow Black Widows Yelena (Florence Pugh) and Melina (Rachel Weisz) and Red Guardian/Alexei (David Harbour). The mysterious Taskmaster, meanwhile, is hot on her tail, and we can’t wait to see how it all comes together when Black Widow lands in theaters next year.