Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige promised recently, following the round of press for “Ant-Man And The Wasp,” that we would soon see new female filmmakers announced as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and true to his word, Marvel has hired a new female helmer. Cate Shortland, the excellent Australian indie director, known for such films as “Somersault,” “Lore,” and most recently, the thriller “Berlin Syndrome,” has been hired to direct the standalone “Black Widow” film starring Scarlett Johannson.
She beat out several high profile female contenders for the job including Amma Asante (“Belle“), the previously unreported Melanie Laurent (“Galveston“) and Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry,” the recent “Carrie” remake). The studio met with 70 filmmakers for the job so they did their due diligence for what will be their second, female-directed film.
THR reports that Shortland had the edge due to Johannson who was a fan of the director’s work. Jac Schaeffer wrote the most recent draft for “Black Widow,” and she also penned the upcoming female-centric remake “Nasty Women,” a remake of “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”
There’s been much speculation whether the “Black Widow” film would be a prequel set sometime in the past. And the trade site somewhat confirms that notion, saying the movie will be reportedly set before the first Joss Whedon-directed “Avengers,” perhaps when she still was a Russian spy or in the early days of turning into an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. and assassin for Nick Fury.
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Shortland’s career began with the expressive indie debut “Somersault” that launched the career of Abbie Cornish. If you want to know why Sam Worthington became a “thing” and was plucked out of obscurity to star in “Avatar” despite not many knew who he was, you can thank Shortland. While some consider him wooden (and he obviously never panned out as an A-list star), his performance in “Somersault” is easily his best, and it put him on Hollywood’s radar.
Shortland recently directed “Berlin Syndrome,” with Teresa Palmer, and it premiered at Sundance last year to much acclaim. She’ll be the second female director after Anna Boden and “Captain Marvel,” but Marvel’s first to direct a film by herself (‘Marvel’ is a co-directing effort with Boden’s longtime filmmaker partner Ryan Fleck).