So, We Might Actually Be Getting A Black Widow Movie...

Kevin Feige is "most committed"...

Black Widow.jpg
Marvel Studios

After years of fan pressure, KevinFeige has dropped a massive hint that he wants to get a Black Widow stand-alone movie off the ground. In his lengthy interview with Deadline, Feige was asked which of the supporting Avengers he thought could turn into a stand-alone property:

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....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.

It's all a bit vague, really - committing "creatively and emotionally" isn't the same as committing physically or actually. But at least the supremo is willing to acknowledge that Black Widow has rich enough stories to justify her own series.

After Civil War, Widow's situation is perfect for the announcement of a spin-off, but you might be forgiven for thinking Marvel could use their already stacked slate not to make it happen.

Advertisement

After all, this isn't the first time Feige has spoken recently about the possibility of a Widow movie, and he talked about priorities then too. At the press day for Civil War, he teased:

"Yes, for sure, I think Widow at some point would be great. But when you start talking about things that are now four/five years away... Sometimes we do that. Doctor Strange has been talked about for ten years. But we're focused on the next nine movies, which is a lot, between now and 2019."

So are we really to believe that Marvel want to make one? Going back to the original plans for a Black Widow film that preceded the MCU, the reason that was canned came down to the market place, asscreenwriterDavidHayter explained in 2011:

Advertisement
Unfortunately, as I was coming up on the final draft, a number of female vigilante movies came out. We had Tomb Raider and Kill Bill, which were the ones that worked, but then we had BloodRayne and Ultraviolet and Aeon Flux. Aeon Flux didn€™t open well, and three days after it opened, the studio said, €œWe don€™t think it€™s time to do this movie.€ I accepted their logic in terms of the saturation of the marketplace, but it was pretty painful.

Even back thenMarvel continued trying to shop the script around, but nothing came of it. Sothe claims that they've never been interested isn't entirelytrue. That and the fact that the context that killed the original Black Widow movie has now massively changed might just be why Kevin Feige is all of a sudden more keen to talk about it again.

Would you be keen to see a Black Widow movie? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

WhatCulture's former COO, veteran writer and editor.