Ragesh Dipu
Rachel Weisz sets her eyes on Marvel’s upcoming standalone movie, ‘Black Widow.’ The actress is in early talks about the movie, reports Variety. If Marvel can strike a deal with Weize, she will be seen alongside Scarlett Johansson in ‘Black Widow.’
Even though the deal has not yet been finalized, Variety reports that both the parties are into signing the deal soon. David Harbour, known for his character Jim Hopper in the Netflix series ‘Stranger Things,’ is also in talks with Marvel. Florence Pugh, known for ‘Outlaw King,’ is already on board.
Marvel’s action-adventure project has been in development for some time. The studio heads were on a widespread searching spree for a female director to helm the project. According to reports, they met with over 70 filmmakers over half a year. At one point, the studio also thought of the alternative, to hire a male director!
At last, the studio zeroed in on Amma Asante, of ‘Belle’ and ‘A United Kingdom,’ Maggie Betts, of ‘Novitiate,’ Melanie Laurent, of ‘Galveston’, Kimberly Peirce, of ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ and Cate Shortland, of ‘Lore’ and ‘Berlin Syndrome.’ The studio and Johansson were really impressed with Shorland’s portrayal of the female protagonist in ‘Lore,’ which earned her critical acclaim in 2012.
‘Lore’ became a sleeper indie hit which tells the story of a young woman who takes her siblings through a war-torn Germany as the Allied forces swept across the Fallen German territories during World War 2. Shortland’s latest flick, Berlin Syndrome, a thriller with Teresa Palmer in the lead also garnered positive reviews.
The wind was in favor of Shorland as she was picked up to helm ‘Black Widow.’ When Jac Schaeffer walked in as the scribe, the project picked up momentum last year. ‘Black Widow’ is technically a prequel to the first ‘Avengers’ movie as it is set past the events of ‘Avengers.’
Even though Marvel is tight-lipped about the timeline of the movie, ‘Black Widow‘ most likely be an origin story of ‘Avengers.’ The movie has Scarlett Johansson reprises the role of the Russian spy turned super heroine, Natasha Romanoff. She first appeared in an MCU vehicle in ‘Iron Man 2’ in 2010.
Johansson’s fans have been clamoring for a long time for a standalone movie of the Russian Spy woman, Natasha Romanoff. ‘Black Widow’ is the second female-focused Marvel flick after ‘Captain Marvel,’ which released on March 8, 2019.
On the other hand, Weisz is flying high with some of the career-best roles on her cards. She was the darling of critics during the last season for her stunning performance in ‘The Favourite.’ The role garnered her an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA win.
What makes ‘Black Widow’ the most secretive Marvel venture is the vague nature of plot and cast. All we can gather about the movie so far is summarized by the Hollywood Reporter as ‘it will be an internationally-set story centering on Natasha Romanoff, a spy and assassin who grew up being trained by the KGB before breaking from their grasp and becoming an agent of SHIELD and Avenger.’
Other important information is that the movie will start filming in June. Scarlette Johansson’s title role is also confirmed, along with Florence Pugh’s rival spy of Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. Marvel hasn’t announced the release date yet.
But, the studio has lined up the long-awaited ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ for an April 26, 2019 release. The huge box office success and critical acclaim heaped over ‘Wonder Woman,’ which was helmed by a woman director, might have prompted Marvel to come up with ‘Black Widow.’ With the Marvel Cinematic Universe is at the point of a historic juncture, the studio makes a move in the right time,
