With Black Widow opening in theaters and available on Disney+ via Premiere Access this Friday, I recently spoke with director Cate Shortland about making the latest Marvel movie. During the wide-ranging interview, Shortland revealed what Marvel fans would be surprised to learn about the making of Black Widow, why the PG-13 rating makes sense for the storyline, how the first cut compared to the finished film, her collaboration with second unit director Darrin Prescott (who has previously worked on Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Drive, Deadpool 2, and the John Wick movies) on the film's action sequences, the way she balanced the seriousness with moments of levity, what she did in pre-production to help her teams understand what she was trying to do, and more.

As you’ve seen in the numerous trailers and clips, Black Widow takes place right after the events of Captain America: Civil War and features Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) having to confront her past and the choices that led her to becoming an Avenger. Written by Eric Pearson with a story Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, the film also stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Rachel Weisz, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, and Ray Winstone.

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Image via Marvel Studios

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Check out what Cate Shortland had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

Cate Shortland:

  • What does she think people would be surprised to learn about the making of Black Widow?
  • Did they ever discuss making Black Widow an R-rated movie?
  • Was Rob Hardy ever going to be the cinematographer?
  • How long was the first cut compared to the finished film?
  • Did she have a lot of deleted scenes?
  • What has it been like for her waiting for the movie to come out?
  • How she has footage from another movie in her movie. Was it tough to get that footage?
  • I try to talk about the post-credits scene…
  • How she worked with second unit director Darrin Prescott on the action.
  • What she did in pre-production to help her team understand what she was trying to do.
  • The way she balanced the seriousness with moments of levity.
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Image via Marvel Studios