Marvel Fans Make Black Widow's Solo Movie Their Most Wanted
It's surely only a matter of time...
It's almost ridiculous to think that after 13 releases, we've still not seen a female-lead MCU movie, particularly when there were plans as far back as 2004 for a project celebrating the franchise's first lady.
Back then, screenwriter David Hayter was due to make his directorial debut for a script based closely on Black Widow's origin, taking us back to the Red Room and pitting Natasha against a villain hell-bent on grooming a fresh batch of would-be assassins.
Unfortunately, the movie wasn't deemed viable, thanks to contextual issues, as Hayter later explained in 2011:
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 didnt open well, and three days after it opened, the studio said, We dont think its time to do this movie. I accepted their logic in terms of the saturation of the marketplace, but it was pretty painful.
Marvel weren't yet making their own movies, so tried to shop the script, but no-one came forward and when Marvel regained the character rights a year later, the MCU went in an entirely different direction.
Could it now be time to revisit the idea, with Widow's backstory hinted at already and Civil War seeing a new, interesting development in her story? It would certainly fit for her to follow in Bucky's footsteps and try to piece together more of her history, while a new villain attempts to make his own army of little Widows.
And despite the seemingly non-spoken concerns that nobody would watch a female-centric Marvel movie, fans are already voting in favour of the idea.
According to a fan survey taken by Fandango (via USA Today), Black Widow is the Avengers fans most want to see given her own solo movie. More than 1,000 moviegoers who've bought tickets to see Civil War responded to the question, with 48% declaring for Black Widow - a considerable increase on closest rivals Vision (15%), Falcon (12%) and Hawkeye (10%). War Machine and Scarlet Witch got 8% and 7% respectively.
It shouldn't be surprising: of all the possibilities, Black Widow has easily the most compelling backstory and potential for expansion, and perhaps her existing relationship with Hawkeye could see him tag along as a back-up to give him a chance of more screen-time?
What do you think? Would you be game for a Black Widow solo movie? Share your reactions below in the comments thread