'Black Widow' Could Be Marvel's Answer to James Bond

It's been a big week for news about the Black Widow standalone movie. Cate Shortland was announced as the film's director as well as that the film will be set prior the events of the first Avengers movie. With the film serving as a prequel of sorts, the Black Widow movie may just give the Marvel Cinematic Universe their answer to James Bond.

While Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) has been a major player in the MCU since her debut in Iron Man 2 back in 2010, her story has largely been a mystery with really only a handful of things known about her: born in Russia, Natasha was raised and trained in the Red Room program from a young age to be a spy. She excelled and became one of the world's greatest assassins. Once in the field, her skills made her a growing threat that landed her on SHIELD radar. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) sent Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) on a mission to eliminate her, but instead he saw potential and she was ultimately recruited by SHIELD. Frequently partnered up with Barton, she brought her skills to many missions some of which are mentioned in passing in various MCU films -- including one in which the Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) shot through her to kill his target.

It's those pre-Avengers missions that could make Black Widow a James Bond-style adventure. In 2012, Marvel released a three part comic series entitled The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes Back. Set between the events of Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, the story sees Natasha go back to Russia on a mission to find missing Stark Industries technology. While there, she encounters a young woman calling herself Sofia who reveals that she's a "fan" of Natasha's and wants to defeat her to take on the mantle of Black Widow. It turns out that Sofia is far more than a fan. She works for billionaire Richard Frampton who himself works for the Ten Rings terrorist organization and is threatening to detonate a missile near the Russian/North Korean border and destabilize world peace.

Sounds quite a bit like a James Bond adventure, doesn't it?

At the moment, there's no telling exactly what story the Black Widow film will tell. As fans have already begun to theorize, the film could also focus on her Red Room origin story or even dig deeper into some of the missions that have been mentioned in the other MCU films -- such as the one where Winter Soldier shot her in the stomach. What is known for sure is that whatever story is told, Johansson is expected to return to play Natasha and has even shared her thoughts on a solo Black Widow feature previously.

"Yes, I would want to in the right context and for the film to fit where I'm at, where I am in my life. I mean I've played this character for a long time. It's been probably like 8 years or more, and so much has happened in my life, my life as a performer and happened in my life personally."

"I love playing this character." Johansson said. "And I think there is definitely an opportunity to explore the Widow as a woman who has kind of come into her own and is making independent and active choices for herself probably for once in her life. You know she hasn't always had that possibility so if it fit that criteria then yes I would want to do it."

What story do you think the Black Widow movie will tell? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp are now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.