Florence Pugh Will Replace Scarlett Johansson As Marvel’s New Black Widow
Marvel’s upcoming Black Widow is expected to be Scarlett Johansson’s last film as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, a character she has played since 2010’s Iron Man 2.
Director Cate Shortland has hinted in a new interview with Empire magazine that Florence Pugh will take over the role and take the story forward.
“[Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige] realised that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction,” said Shortland. “And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.”
*SPOILER FOR AVENGERS: ENDGAME AHEAD*
Shortland also shared his thoughts on Romanoff’s demise in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, a scene that left enraged about the character’s death being overshadowed by Tony Stark’s funeral. “In Endgame, the fans were upset that Natasha did not have a funeral,” Shortland said. “Whereas Scarlett, when I spoke to her about it, said Natasha wouldn’t have wanted a funeral.”
The filmmaker continued, “She’s too private, and anyway, people don’t really know who she is. So what we did in this film was allow the ending to be the grief the individuals felt, rather than a big public outpouring. I think that’s a fitting ending for her.”
Black Widow, originally slated for an April release, has now been pushed to November due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
