The Famous Action Directors Black Widow's Cate Shortland Interviewed While Working On The Scarlett Johansson Movie

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in a helicopter

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally returning to theaters with Black Widow, which was delayed a number of times throughout the last year. Fans are eager to dive back into the beloved shared universe, and get some closure for Scarlett Johansson’s title character. And it turns out that director Cate Shortland got the chance to speak with a variety of famous action directors when preparing to shoot her Marvel debut.

Cate Shortland is the filmmaker behind Black Widow, and the cast has been singing her praises consistently throughout the filming and marketing stages. As seen in the video above, CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell had the chance to speak with Shortland ahead of the movie’s release-- where he asked about the communication between directors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s when she revealed the litany of acclaimed filmmakers that she was in contact with, saying:

When I was in post I was speaking with some of the other directors who were working on other material with Disney. So I think what’s beautiful about Marvel is that you do feel like you’re part of that family. It’s not fabricated. So we were all sort of chatting to each other at times if we needed help with what each other was doing. And Anna [Boden] helped me as well. And Ryan [Fleck] who had some before me. And then I spoke to Chloé [Zhao] after. And Taika [Waititi] as well. So all the directors speak to each other, and the Russos spoke to me as well. Christopher McQuarrie also from Mission Impossible, he spoke to me for an hour on the phone. People were really generous.

Talk about good company. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a behemoth franchise, it turns out that there’s a ton of communication between the filmmakers that are behind the camera. As such, Cate Shortland got to speak with a number of acclaimed Marvel filmmakers, as well as acclaimed action visionaries like Christopher McQuarrie.

In her conversation with Sean O’Connell, Cate Shortland listed off a number of well-known names whom she had contact with while crafting the action of Black Widow. First up was Captain Marvel directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. While the pair won’t be back for the sequel The Marvels, their perspective was no doubt helpful.

Black Widow is arriving on Disney+ for an additional price at the same time as theaters. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

When working on Black Widow, Cate Shortland also spoke with a pair of Oscar winners in the form of Taika Waititi and Chloé Zhao. The latter filmmaker’s debut in the MCU will come with Eternals, but her work on Nomadland proved what a visionary filmmaker was behind the camera. As for Taika Waititi, he brought new life to the Thor franchise with Ragnarok, and recently wrapped production on the upcoming sequel Love and Thunder.

Despite its delay, there’s a ton of fan excitement about Black Widow. Moviegoing audiences are eager for some closure, after Scarlett Johansson’s character sacrificed herself. The fandom has also been waiting for over a decade to see Natasha Romanoff finally take center stage in her own solo flick.

Black Widow will finally arrive on July 9th. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.