Finally! And now we know at least one character who survives the “Avengers: Infinity War” series and one actor who’s contract is not up with Marvel or at least has potential to renew. After what feels like years of “well… maybe,” Marvel Studios is finally going to make a stand-alone “Black Widow” movie for Scarlett Johansson. Or, at least they’ve hired a writer and have put a film into development at least.
The movie apparently has no green light, but Marvel’s Kevin Feige met with several candidates before landing on screenwriter Jac Schaeffer who will pen the script. Evidently part of that exploration was asking writers what they would do given the chance to write a “Black Widow” movie (let’s hope they had advance notice).
A up and comer who broke out with her Black List with the script “The Shower” –comedy about an alien invasion during a baby shower – Schaeffer earned further buzz when Anne Hathaway loved her screenplay and quickly attached herself to it.
Obviously, no details of the script are out yet, but presumably it takes place after the two-part ‘Infinity Wars’ movies. Johansson has appeared as “Black Widow” six times and first appeared as the character in “Iron Man 2.” ‘Infinity Wars’ would mean two more appearances so perhaps her contract has been extended.
Marvel is looking to enter a new era beyond a simple Phase 4. Many of its main characters—Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans),Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) possibly Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner, who hinted at a “see you later for now” recently— are expected to either be retired or killed off (though boy, killing off I.P. like Iron Man or Captain America would be a crazy bold move). This means a new charge of heroes are expected to lead “The Avengers.” This could mean Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, (even the Hulk?) and the likes step up to the plate as main characters, but the addition of a Black Widow movie perhaps reveals her already-senior character taken on a greater role. Speculate on. [Variety]