Scarlett Johansson Says Black Widow Is A Film About Self-Forgiveness And Family

After the monstrous success of Avengers: Endgame, where does Marvel Studios go next? The next film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will go backwards with Black Widow, the Scarlett Johansson-lead spy thriller focusing on the secret agent character introduced back in Iron Man 2 which takes between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Though we have a vague understanding of what the film will involve plot wise, as the trailer from San Diego Comic-Con offered plenty of reveals, but thematically it’s mostly still a mystery, until Johansson opened up about it in a new interview.

Star Scarlett Johansson spoke about the story at the heart of the Black Widow movie, which will have heavy themes throughout apparently. You can watch the full video, with Johansson’s Black Widow quotes starting at the 12:17 mark, in the player above.

“We just wrapped Black Widow like two weeks ago or something like that so it’s very fresh in my mind and I don’t have the total perspective on it yet,” the actress said. “It’s a film about self-forgiveness and it’s a film about family. I think in life we sort of come of age many times and you have these kind of moments where you’re in a transitional phase and then you move sort of beyond it and I think in the Black Widow standalone film I think the character is at, when we find her, a moment of real crisis, and throughout the film, by facing herself in a lot of ways and a lot of things that make her, her, she actually kind of comes through that crisis on the other side and we start to be able to reset where she’s a more grounded, self-possessed person. So that’s her journey, well, I hope anyway.”

Johansson’s comments echo statements previously made by her co-star Florence Pugh about the film, where the young actress called it “raw,” “painful,” and “beautiful.”

“I think people are going to be really surprised by the outcome of a big action film having that much heart,” Pugh tells Booksmart star Beanie Feldstein in Variety’s Actors on Actors series. “And I know lots of people will be emotional about her because her character had such a hard ending [in “Endgame”], but it was special learning from her, and she’s been doing this for like 10 years in those films. For this to be her film was special. And I got to be there and see how she does stunts and lives it, and it’s so her.”

Black Widow is directed by Cate Shortland. The film stars Johansson returning as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, with David Harbour as Alexei aka The Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena, O-T Fagbenle as Mason, and Rachel Weisz as Melina. The villain Taskmaster is also set to appear in the film, though who will be behind the mask remains to be seen.

Black Widow opens May 1, 2020.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022.