Black Widow has become one of the major characters in Marvel’s cinematic universe. Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role in Captain America 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron and a solo film.
Johansson’s character Natasha has become quite popular, as she’ll be appearing in Captain America: The Winter Soldier alongside Chris Evans when the sequel hits theaters April 4, 2014.
Black Widow will also have a “huge part” in Avengers: Age of Ultron, according to director Joss Whedon.
Marvel’s President tells Total Film, “Black Widow’s whole arc is coming to terms with her history – that she’s been a spy, and spies aren’t necessarily trustworthy.” It seems we’ll be going deeper into her back story, something that was touched on briefly in The Avengers while speaking with actor Jeremy Renner’s character Hawkeye.
Feige says, “We start filming the next Avengers film at the end of March…Widow’s part in that is very big. We learn more about her past and learn more about where she came from and how she became in that film.”
Fans will be delighted to hear that Marvel intends to focus on a female lead, but it’s most likely a strategy that the studio decided to take due to Jennifer Lawrence’s incredible success in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The film would go on to become the highest grossing domestic film in the U.S. in 2013, beating out Marvel’s own Iron Man 3.
Moviegoers have clearly proven that they wish to see strong female leads, especially in fantastical worlds, which Marvel has become an expert at creating.
Speaking of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Feige says, “We wanted to change the dynamic of the cinematic universe with this film. We wanted Cap and really the entire cinematic universe to be very different at the end of Winter Soldier than it is at the beginning.”
It seems Marvel intends to create a clear story arc between the previous Marvel sequels and The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which sounds promising. Moving forward and not getting stuck in its own success is something that many studios have found problematic in the past.
Studios always seem concerned that if they alter a franchise too much they’ll lose some (or all) of their audience. Marvel is taking a different approach, though, by putting their full weight behind 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which features a machine-gun wielding raccoon in space. It proves they’re not afraid of taking risks.
Feige explains the reason behind this, saying, “Each of the characters appear in their runs, occasionally they get together for a big event or crossover series, they part again and come back together again.”
While the rinse and repeat style could potentially become stale, Marvel may entice fans to stay on their roller coaster by adding solo Black Widow and possibly Hulk films in between The Avengers franchise and the other solo character films.
More Marvel films are always welcomed, but one starring Scarlett Johansson definitely seems like the studio is attempting to stay ahead of the curve. Look for Johansson as Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier when it hits theaters April 4, 2014.