Exclusive: Black Widow 2 Happening Without Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson won't be showing up in Black Widow 2.
This article is more than 2 years old
Scarlett Johansson has helped elevate the character of Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow into one of the top tier characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is no denying her impact and legacy with the role. But, with the upcoming Black Widow feature film, many fans have expected that this could be the actress’s goodbye performance as the character. And not only that, but that there is another Black Widow waiting in the wings. Today, we have some confirmation of that.
According to our insider source – the same one that is claiming that Storm is getting a Marvel solo project – Scarlett Johansson will be out after Black Widow and Black Widow 2 will feature Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh) as the titular superhero. While the end of Johansson’s run isn’t a huge surprise, the fact that Marvel Studios wants to continue the Black Widow franchise with a new starring actress is a solid piece of new information.
Everyone was already kind of befuddled when Scarlett Johansson finally got a Black Widow solo movie after the character was killed off in Avengers: Endgame. It will obviously fill in a considerable chunk of her backstory, but fans were wondering how the movie is going to maintain interest when the audience knows the ultimate fate of the lead character. However, many fans have speculated that the movie will really act as an origin story for Yelena’s version of Black Widow. Black Widow director Cate Shortland has even said that the movie will see Johansson “handing the baton” to Pugh. This definitely sounds like the gameplan.
So, today’s news is confirmation of what many have been simply speculating about. It sounds like Marvel Studios will not make the same mistake they did with Scarlett Johansson and wait too terribly long to give Florence Pugh her own solo movie as Black Widow. It took a decade for Black Widow to stop being a supporting character in other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and headline her own feature. As long as the fan response to Yelena is good, we can almost guarantee that Black Widow 2 will be getting added to the next decade of Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.
We do wonder if Scarlett Johansson will be completely removed from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is a franchise that really loves cameos and returning characters. So, it is not too hard for us to imagine seeing her pop up in a quick flashback or possibly some alternate dimension. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe about to really go wild with its multiverse shenanigans, anything is on the table for the future. Getting to see Natasha one more time as a piece of endearing fan-service might be enough to tempt Johansson back to the role.
Most importantly, this news confirms that Black Widow will be acting as a major sendoff for Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We will have to wait to see if we will be watching Black Widow on the big screen or if it could be headed to Disney+. Either way, we are intrigued to see just how this movie will set up Black Widow 2 and Florence Pugh as the newest addition to the Marvel superhero lineup.
