Just when you thought Scarlett Johansson was done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she’s now showing interest in returning. The only problem is, it won’t be as Black Widow (sorry, guys, she’s dead!), but rather to direct.
Scarlett Johansson — who hasn’t been in a Marvek movie since 2021’s Black Widow —recently spoke to Deadline about the possibility of helming an MCU flick of her own, said that she is drawn to the appeal of a blockbuster, especially of that magnitude. “I think the movies that I like that are big action movies also have the human connectivity piece. Even producing Black Widow and being a part of the production of that, and the development of the story, and the story between Natasha and Yelena… [there is] I think, a way of doing it, a way of maintaining the integrity of the idea of human connection, family, disappointment, all of the things that were themes in [Eleanor the Great], and doing it in a giant way in a giant universe — there’s ways of doing that…So, yeah, definitely, it could be, it would be fun.”
The aforementioned Eleanor the Great — which had its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (where’s its competing in the Un Certain Regard section) and marks the feature debut for Scarlett Johansson as director — is a far cry from Marvel in terms of her directorial prospects. But it has at least earned praise for lead June Squibb, which we are absolutely here for.
Outside of the Marvel Universe — which will carry on without Scarlett Johansson with Avengers: Doomsday (recently pushed back to December 2026) — the actress will be headed into the Jurassic World with this summer’s Rebirth, which takes place a handful of years after the events of Dominion.
To date, Scarlett Johansson has played Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow nine times for Marvel, beginning with 2010’s Iron Man 2 and concluded with her namesake movie, which took place before the events of 2019’s Endgame, which found her character sacrificing herself to obtain the Soul Stone.
How would you feel if Scarlett Johansson returned to Marvel but only to direct?
