Scarlett Johansson Had Her Name Removed From Thunderbolts* Credits (& Reveals Why)

Scarlett Johansson finally explained her missing producer credit on Thunderbolts* in a new interview published on Tuesday. The actress had a conversation with David Harbour published by Interview Magazine, and he was quick to praise her for her influence on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest team-up movie. Johansson was named as an executive producer when the film was first announced years ago, but she was not in the credits when they rolled and was not included in the publicity leading up to its release. Even Harbour didn’t seem to understand how that happened, but Johansson explained that it was her choice.

“It’s the opening day of a movie that basically you are the seventh Thunderbolt in. Your character is all over this movie. Have you seen it?” Harbour asked Johansson. When she revealed she hadn’t seen the movie, Harbour replied, “Okay. You are an executive producer on it. Congratulations,” but Johansson corrected him.

“I asked to have my credit removed because I wasn’t involved,” she said. Johansson has been taking on more and more work behind the camera in recent years. After more than a decade in the MCU, she got her first executive producer credit on Black Widow, which introduced Harbour’s character Red Guardian and Florence Pugh’s character Yelena, both of whom starred in Thunderbolts*. However, it sounds like Johansson was reluctant to accept a credit she didn’t feel she had earned.

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Harbour, on the other hand, seemed to feel she deserved it. He joked that she asked to have her producer credit removed because she “hated the movie that much,” before saying, “I think you’d be proud of us.” He and Johansson then discussed her unique place in the MCU and her mixed feelings on her role in hindsight.

“Some of the films that I did for Marvel engaged my character more than others,” Johansson said. “Like in [Captain America: The] Winter Soldier with Chris [Evans], we were really dynamic. In some of the other films, the cast was so enormous and there was so much plot to serve that you start to feel like you’re a device to move it along. And if you’re committed to five and a half months of that, it’s like, ‘Okay. I can’t paint my nails, I can’t get a haircut.’”

“These sound like silly problems, but your identity is wrapped up in this job for a long time, and if you’re not doing engaging work as an actor, you feel a little cagey sometimes,” she concluded.

Still, Johansson has not given up on big franchise work entirely, as she is set to star in Jurassic World: Rebirth premiering on July 2nd. Thunderbolts* is still playing in theaters now.