Black Widow Star Scarlett Johansson Is All Smiles in New BTS Photo

10/01/2020 10:27 pm EDT

Marvel fans are incredibly eager to see the Black Widow solo movie, especially as the film's release has been delayed several times over due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The highly-anticipated film is set to serve as Scarlett Johansson's proper farewell as the iconic character, while also providing more insight into her backstory and life as a superspy. While we want for the film to debut in theaters next summer, a new behind-the-scenes photo is here to tide fans over. Deborah LaMia Denaver, who serves as Johansson's makeup artist, recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at the film's set on Instagram. In the photo, which you can check out below, fans can spot Johannson and the film's director, Cate Shortland.

In Marvel Studios' action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

"I feel like I'm in control of the destiny of this film, which gives me a lot more peace of mind," Johansson said in a previous interview. "I know her better than anybody. What was her childhood like? What is her relationship to figures of authority? This character is gritty and multi-dimensional but has a lot of trauma and has led an unexamined life. In order to operate at this elite level, she has probably had to push away a lot of stuff."

Johansson reprises her role as Natasha/Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour portrays Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz is Melina. The film is directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige.

"It's a film about self-forgiveness and it's a film about family," Johansson said last November. "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."

Black Widow is set to be released in theaters on May 7, 2021.

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