‘I THINK IT HAS SOME OF THE BEST FIGHTS WE’VE HAD IN THE MCU’
We might have to wait a little longer than expected to see it, but Black Widow is still set to kick off the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, while delving into one crucial character’s past…
RED ALERT
We talk to Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh and more about the long-awaited – and virus-delayed – Black Widow.
This movie has always been on the table,” insists Scarlett Johansson. “We just never knew what it would be. This movie would have been so different if we made it 10 years ago.” The standalone movie for Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, has been a long time coming. And the wait, unfortunately, just got a slight extension, when Black Widow became one of many films to vacate its summer 2020 release date for a yet-to-be-confirmed future opening in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic (all interviews for this feature took place before the release-date delay.)
But, of all the pieces in the giant, ever-expanding jigsaw puzzle that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow seems ideally placed to weather a delay. As the first film in the MCU’s Phase 4, it follows Spider-Man: Far From Home and comes hot on the heels of the biggest box-office hit of all time, Avengers: Endgame, which was the culmination of the 22-film Infinity Saga, a series that changed the face of cinema as standalone heroes teamed up in the face of ever-escalating stakes against the threat of genocidal giant Thanos. Endgame was also the film that saw Natasha make the ultimate sacrifice, giving her life for the Soul Stone on Vormir.
Her death means that, by necessity, this long-awaited standalone movie is a prequel. Set between the fractious superhero clash of Captain America: Civil War and the Thanos-starring Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow will dig into Russian-born Nat’s past, seemingly focusing on character development over franchise extending. And the superspy assassin turned OG Avenger has a lot of history to excavate, given her training in the Red Room, the Widow program, her time in Budapest, and all that red in her ledger.
“I think from the very beginning when we first started talking about doing this standalone film, there was no