Scarlett Johansson To Reportedly Meet Soon With ‘Black Widow’ Movie Writer

Actress Scarlett Johansson will meet with Black Widow screenwriter Jac Schaeffer in February to discuss the Avenger’s first solo outing, Variety’s Justin Kroll reports.

“While Jac didn’t get a chance to meet with ScarJo before she was tapped to pen BW, hearing the two are likely to sit down at the beginning of next month to talk about the film and how they see it going,” Kroll wrote on Twitter.

Black Widow was announced as being in “very early” development earlier this week, but has yet to receive an official greenlight. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige selected Schaeffer after meeting with several writers.

Johansson, who has portrayed the super-spy-turned-superhero since 2010’s Iron Man 2, met with Marvel execs to discuss development. The actress reprised the role in 2012’s The Avengers, 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron and 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.

Recycled footage of the character appeared in Thor: Ragnarok. Johansson features in May’s Avengers: Infinity War, her sixth time as the character.

Schaeffer recently penned Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. Her Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake, comedy Nasty Women, starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, opens in August.

Johansson and several Marvel leading ladies — Ragnarok‘s Tessa Thompson, Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff, and Captain Marvel‘s Brie Larson — pitched an all-female Marvel movie to Feige, who was receptive of the idea. There are currently no announced plans for such a film.

First-time Marvel director Taika Waititi, director of Thor: Ragnarok, said in October he’s open to making a Black Widow movie that would be “crazy and a bit funnier” than audiences expect.

“I really go for the underdog,” Waititi explained. “I think there’s a way in with any of the characters. You just have to find it and find what honors what’s already there with the source material but also brings it into a more entertaining form for the audience.”

Avengers: Infinity War opens May 4.