Marvel teases ‘Black Widow’ solo movie

MANILA, Philippines – Marvel seems to be an unstoppable juggernaut churning out one superhero blockbuster after another – and more down the pipeline until 2019. Without anything set in stone, Marvel has expressed that they are “creatively and emotionally” committed to making a movie for Black Widow.

Speaking to Deadline, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige replied to a question as to which of the side characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) could headline a movie.

He said, “We’ve announced the next nine movies, 10 counting Civil War, through the end of 2019. Where we go beyond that are ongoing discussions that we’ll focus on in the next few years because we have a lot to do before then.” (READ: ‘Captain America: Civil War’: 15 awesome fun facts)

“Of the characters that you’ve just mentioned I would say certainly the one creatively and emotionally that we are most committing to doing is Black Widow,” he added.

Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, in the cinematic universe, is a former Soviet spy and assassin-turned-SHIELD agent. She is played by actress Scarlett Johansson and first appeared in Iron Man 2 (2010) and recently, in Captain America: Civil War.

Feige went on to tell Deadline about the character and Scarlett’s turn: “We think she’s an amazing character. We think Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of her is amazing. She’s a lead Avenger and has amazing stories in her own right to tell that we think would be fun to turn into a stand-alone franchise.”

Civil War filmmakers the Russo Brothers, Anthony and Joe, also expressed interest in seeing Black Widow headline a film. (READ: About that ‘Captain America: Civil War’ ending: Director Joe Russo explains)

“We find that the character is one of the richest, if not the richest, character in the Marvel universe,” Joe Russo said, as quoted by Entertainment Weekly. “She’s a very complex character. She’s haunted by demons and her understanding of the world is fascinating. I think there is a lot that can be done with that character.”

In a separate interview with Collider, the filmmaking duo mentioned that it may just be a matter of scheduling. “I don’t think [it’ll take] much. I think it’s just a function of where on the slate it goes. She’s a badass,” said Joe.

It was earlier reported in 2010 that negotiations were initiated with Scarlett. “We’ve already started discussions with Scarlett about the idea of a solo movie and have begun putting together concepts, but The Avengers comes first,” said Feige, as quoted by SuperHeroHype.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been criticized for lacking in female leads. It is currently in phase 3 of its slate of releases, which includes the third Avengers film, Infinity War Part 1 (2018), as well as Black Panther (2018), Doctor Strange (November 2016), and Captain Marvel (2019) – a superheroine. – Rappler.com