Scarlett Johansson Calls Black Widow a "Standalone Franchise" With Co-Star Florence Pugh

Black Widow is set to be the next movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while it was [...]

By Jamie Jirak

Black Widow is set to be the next movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while it was supposed to be released in May, the coronavirus pandemic set the movie's release back to later this year. While there's always a chance the movie could be pushed back again, it's currently set for a November release, taking the date originally set for The Eternals. Recently, a Scarlett Johansson fan account on Twitter shared a quick clip of an interview (presumably from before the pandemic) with the star praising her co-star, Florence Pugh. While we agree that Pugh deserves all the kind words, the thing that really struck us about the clip is Johansson calling Black Widow a "standalone franchise."

"I am very excited about Florence Pugh. She is my co-star in the Black Widow standalone franchise, and I'm, you know, like learning from her," Johansson excitedly exclaims in the clip. While this certainly could just have been the actor using the wrong movie terminology, it does make us wonder if Marvel plans to make more Black Widow films, and if all of those films will be set before Natasha Romanoff's death in Avengers: Endgame or if they'll plan to bring her back somehow. Of course, they could also be moving away from Natasha and start focusing on Pugh's Yelena Belova, Natasha's "sister" of sorts from her Red Room past. You can check out the clip in the tweet below:

During an interview last year, Johansson confirmed Black Widow's timeline and talked about her journey as the character. "What can I say? Well, I think it's already out there, it takes place after the Civil War and before the Infinity War," Johansson confirmed. "A lot of people have told me that the film, you know, that the film should have happened before… and they're wondering if it's too late for this movie now, but I really could never have made this film ten years ago when we first started our journey with Marvel." She added, "My journey with Natasha has informed this film and it's a character who is a fully recognized woman and I think it has a complexity to it that is just delicious. We get to do stuff now that is just good."

In addition to Johansson and Pugh, Black Widow is also set to star David Harbour as Alexei aka The Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle as Mason, and Rachel Weisz as Melina. Cate Shortland directed the film with a screenplay from Ned Benson and Jac Schaeffer.

Black Widow is currently set for release on November 6th.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of