Avengers 4: Is Scarlett Johansson Hinting At Her MCU Exit?
Is a "bittersweet" ending coming?
One of the biggest things to come out of Marvel's huge Vanity Fair photoshoot and feature was the idea that the studio have ideas for 20 more movies beyond those already announced and that it's all going to be "intentionally" different, according to Kevin Feige.
Inevitably that will inspire lots of fans to start wondering what's coming and how different it's going to be. But it won't ALL be completely fresh: we already know that Spider-Man 2 is coming and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 (neither of which count in the announced 22 movies Feige mentioned in his interview), and there's no way we won't see sequels for Black Panther, Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel in the new slate. That would be unthinkable.
So maybe the differences there will come down to story and locations, rather than characters. And it's not like Avengers 4 will mark a hard break for the MCU, with a whole new cast of characters coming in beyond there. That would be silly anyway, when there are so many more stories that are yet to be told about a lot of those characters.
The problem Marvel face, of course, is that a lot of contracts are coming to an end with Avengers 4. As it stands, Chris Evans (Captain America), Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) are all set to leave the MCU when Phase 3 concludes. Unless they all sign new contracts of course, and there's a good chance some of them will.
If all of those actors leave permanently, it would be a shock, especially with hints of an Iron Man 4 project, more Thor movies and a long-mooted Black Widow movie. All of those would make money, and Marvel would be idiotic to let so much talent walk away. They've been in this position before - with Robert Downey Jr in particularly - and extensions were made. Expensive ones, but extensions all the same.
Fans will inevitably hold out hope, but it sounds a little like Scarlett Johansson might be hinting that her own tenure in the MCU is coming to a firm end. She spoke as part of the Vanity Fair feature to leave an ominous shadow hanging:
"I feel a lot of joy for the next generation. It's a bittersweet feeling, but a positive one."
Now, that sounds an awful lot like she won't be around to see that next generation at all. Does she know something about the end of her character that we don't yet?
It would be a travesty if Marvel don't go with a Black Widow movie as part of their upcoming slate, and the idea of them doing one without Johansson (it's not entirely certain they'll retire characters when these contracts end, after all) is just about unthinkable.
Hopefully she's just trying to make a strong negotiating position for herself?