For years fans have asked Marvel for a Black Widow movie, recognizing that Scarlett Johansson's Russian spy had the potential for more outside of The Avengers. And for years, Marvel's Kevin Feige has taken a "We'd like to, but we'll see" stance when replying to those requests. Well, it's finally happening. Or at least, the first steps to it happening have been taken with the hiring of screenwriter Jac Shaeffer.
A Black Widow movie is now in development, but cool your jets for now because it has yet to be green lit officially. Feige has been meeting with writers on the project and settled on Schaeffer, whose Black List script for The Shower, about an alien invasion that strikes during a baby shower, quickly gained her the attention of Anne Hathaway who will star in the movie. Hathaway and Schaeffer are also collaborating on Nasty Women, which has been described as the female version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Johansson has already met with Marvel to discuss what she'd like to see in a Black Widow movie, and it's probably then that they discussed extending her contract. That's assuming hers was due to expire post-Avengers 4 like so many others she helped build the MCU alongside.
I think Marvel missed the boat on Black Widow and should have done this years ago, but better late than ever. Don't be surprised if an official announcement happens at Comic-Con this summer.
[Variety]
