Exclusive: Scarlett Johansson Producing Black Widows Series
Our sources tell us Scarlett Johansson is producing a Black Widows series for Disney+, which will feature a whole team of the skilled operatives.
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The actress to popularize Marvel‘s Natasha Romanoff is coming back to the franchise, but this time behind the camera. According to our trusted and proven sources, Scarlett Johansson is producing a Black Widows series for Disney+. Rather than a single hero, the show will focus on an entire team of the deadly operatives.
Scarlett Johansson, who played the first of Marvel’s Black Widows, surprised everyone in December when she revealed she was continuing to work with Marvel as a producer, even after her very public legal battle with Disney. Speaking to Collider while promoting Sing 2, Johansson explained producing at Marvel was “like working with family.” Producing there, she said, allowed her to “really dream big there and nothing’s ever off the table and you kind of throw all these blue sky ideas around and see what sticks.”
At the time Collider and others reported that Kevin Feige said Scarlett Johansson was working on a secret MCU project that was not related to the Black Widows, but clearly that’s changed. Possible reasons for the change could include Florence Pugh’s growing popularity, and the announcement that after years of speculation Thunderbolts is finally on the way with Pugh as one of the leads. Wherever Thunderbolts takes the MCU, Black Widows will likely be connected in some way.
Narratively speaking, presumably the foundation for the project was laid in Scarlett Johansson’s final appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, when the Black Widows under the mind control of Dreykov (Ray Winstone) are liberated by Romanoff and her adoptive family. The last we see of them, they are leaving with Yelena (Florence Pugh), Alexei (David Harbour), Melina (Rachel Weisz), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) toward the end of last year’s Black Widow. Their whereabouts and activities, however, have yet to be revealed.
Scarlett Johansson is the only creative we know of attached to Black Widows, and that’s in a producer capacity, so as of yet there’s no word on the cast. Fans will likely want to see Pugh, Harbour, and Weisz to at least make an appearance. Of course once the project is officially announced there will no doubt be speculation, rumors, and perhaps fan petitions to get Johansson back in the black jumpsuit.
Natasha Romanoff dies in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and most of 2021’s Black Widow serves as something of a prequel; taking place during the events of 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. There has long been speculation that Scarlett Johansson would return as a resurrected Black Widow, and of course the Russo brothers made sure to get in that bit toward the end of Endgame to reveal that Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) attempted to resurrect her. In a narrative with an Alligator Loki, nothing is out of bounds.
While Scarlett Johansson produces Black Widows, another series is being spun out of one of her movies. On Monday it was reported that Morgan Freeman (Se7en) was in talks to reprise his role from the 2014 sci-fi thriller Lucy for a spinoff series. Johansson occupied the titular role in the film, though there’s no word on whether or not she’s been approached about the show.
