Black Widow has been an important player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since she was introduced in 2010's Iron Man 2. However, unlike fellow Avengers teammates like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff has never had the opportunity to star in her own movie, instead either being a supporting character or part of an ensemble. But that may finally change, as Marvel has reportedly hired a screenwriter to pen a Black Widow movie.
According to The Wrap, Marvel has hired Jac Schaffer to write a Black Widow movie. No story details were revealed in the report, but evidently Marvel is now committed to seeing its resident super spy finally venture out on her own. Schaffer made her feature film screenwriting debut with 2009's TiMER, which she also directed. Since then, she's written the 2014 Blacklist-recognized The Shower (which Anne Hathaway will star in and produce), the upcoming Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake Nasty Women and the Disney short Olaf's Frozen Adventure.
Although a Black Widow movie has been a topic of discussion for years, this is the first time that it finally looks like it might become a reality. Last year, Scarlett Johansson said that she's talked with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige about making a standalone adventure for the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent-turned-Avenger-turned-fugitive, and they both agreed that she deserves her own story, but it's all a matter of timing. Kevin Feige later said that Black Widow was one of the characters that Marvel Studios is "creatively and emotionally" committed to giving solo movie attention to in Phase Four. Although Marvel hasn't unveiled an official Phase Four slate yet, so far Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 are the only movies that have been officially announced for post-Avengers 4.
When we last left off with Black Widow in Captain America: Civil War, she had gone on the run from the U.S. government after helping Captain America and Winter Soldier escape to track down Helmut Zemo. It's unclear if the Black Widow movie would be set in the present day period, i.e. Phase Four, or if it would turn back the clock and show us one of her missions as a spy, be it for S.H.I.E.L.D. or the KGB. Either way, given how popular Black Widow is both in the comics and the movies, I suppose it's better late than never that the MCU has finally decided it's worth exploring what her own story would look like.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news on what's happening with the Black Widow movie. In the meantime, you can see Scarlett Johansson back in action as Natasha Romanoff on May 4 for Avengers: Infinity War, and she'll also return for Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019.
