With a wealth of Marvel characters to choose from, deciding who to make the subject of their movies is not an easy task. Not only are there a plethora of characters established within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but move to the comic books and there are even more characters - some well-known, some more obscure - to choose from.
One subject that comes up time and again, though, is a solo Black Widow movie. Right now, with the release of Captain America: Civil War, and the rave reviews the film is getting, it seems as though fans are even more vocal in their request for Scarlett Johansson to finally be promoted to a Marvel leading lady.
Just a day ago, we reported how Black Widow had topped a Fandango poll taken of moviegoers who had pre-purchased tickets for Civil War, asking who they would like to be the subject of a standalone film. Not only did Black Widow come out on top, but she scored a massive 48% of the vote. In comparison, Vision came second with 15%.
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige recently teased the possibility of a Black Widow film happening at some point in the future, and now Civil War directors Anthony and Joe Russo have added their voice to the mix, with Joe Russo hinting that there might be some surprises to come over the next few years.
Talking to Collider, the Russo brothers were then asked about the possibility of making Natasha Romanoff a fully fledged superhero. While they didn’t confirm anything, what they did say was rather interesting:
She certainly is, and fans are definitely keen to see more of the spy. There is also a growing voice among fans for Black Widow to have her own TV series, similar to Daredevil, Luke Cage, or Jessica Jones over on Netflix. This would open up the opportunity to explore more of her back story and to see a wider range of her skills used.
Anthony: It’s a no-brainer, right?
Joe: I don’t think [it’ll take] much. I think it’s just a function of where on the slate it goes. She’s a bad-ass.
So far, Marvel has yet to release any movie with a female lead. The Wasp will co-headline a movie with Ant-Man in 2018, followed by Captain Marvel in 2019, and it will be interesting to see how those two projects are received. Really, it shouldn’t be about the gender of the lead, of course, but rather how interesting the character is and the actor’s ability to lead a movie. Most seem to agree that Johansson could certainly hold her own, but there seems to be some division over whether Black Widow has enough depth as she is at the moment.
The Russos were also asked which obscure Marvel comic characters they’d like to bring to the big screen, and both agreed it would have to be Great Lakes Avengers. As for who they’d choose if they could pick any Marvel character currently at a different studio?
Well, Spider-Man made the switch, so who knows what could happen in the future? One thing’s for sure, Marvel have a lot of possibilities to explore in phase 4.
Joe: Wolverine.
Anthony: Yeah.
Joe: First favorite character growing up was Spider-Man, second was Wolverine.
Captain America: Civil War opens in U.S. theaters May 6, 2016, followed by Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.
Source: Collider
