When Scarlett Johansson launched legal action against Disney for breach of contract after the terms of her deal to star in and executive produce Black Widow weren’t updated to reflect the Marvel Cinematic Universe prequel getting sent to Disney Plus Premier Access, it felt like her decade-long association with the franchise was set to end in a blaze of ignominy.
Thankfully, the two sides reached an agreement, but then things took the most unexpected of turns. Kevin Feige teased that Johansson is on her way back to Marvel, but not in the way you’d expect. The architect of the shared mythology revealed that he was re-teaming with his longtime Natasha Romanoff on a brand new and top secret project, albeit one that had nothing to do with Black Widow.
We still don’t know what it is, but in an interview with Collider, Johansson revealed her excitement over heading back to a world she’s very familiar with, this time with a completely fresh perspective.
“As far as Marvel goes, it’s like working with family there. Marvel has some of the best IP ever and you can really dream big there and nothing’s ever off the table and you kind of throw all these blue sky ideas around and see what sticks. It’s like a creative playground that’s just like a dream. Again, I have that shorthand with my fellow creatives there that comes from being in the world for 10 years with those guys.”
The most obvious answer would be a producorial role on a potential Florence Pugh Black Widow franchise, but the MCU has never been too easy to predict in terms of what’s being cooked up behind the scenes. It could literally be anything, which is part of the reason we’re so curious to find out.