In a refreshing twist, Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson is getting as candid as is humanly possible at this point about her upcoming standalone Marvel film. Black Widow will take us back into Natasha Romanoff's past as we explore a defining moment in her Black Widow journey. Joining Johansson in this solo MCU outing is Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour.
Johansson opened up about the themes of Black Widow and lightly touched on Natasha's emotional arc in the movie, which has to go into the past based on her fate in Avengers: Endgame. As such, we know the movie takes place between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Like other MCU standalones, Natasha is the only character we'll know a lot about going into it while the characters played by Pugh, Weisz, and Harbour will be new to the scene. Speaking with Vanity Fair in a video interview reflecting on some career highlights, Johansson opened up about Black Widow. She shared:
"I don't have a total perspective on it yet. It's a film about self-forgiveness. It's a film about family. I think, in life, we come of age many times in your life and you have these moments where you're kind of in a transitional phase and then you move sort of beyond it. I think in the Black Widow standalone film the character is [...] at a moment of real crisis and throughout the film by facing herself in a lot of ways and all the things that make her her, she actually kind of comes through that crisis on the other side and is able to sort of re-set into a space where she's a more grounded, self-possessed person. So, that's her journey."
Johansson didn't share any further details about Black Widow, natch, but this is a pretty intriguing thematic breakdown of what we can expect from this pivotal solo Natasha chapter. As we head into 2020, we also know that Pugh and Weisz will also be playing Black Widow agents (ICYMI: "Black Widow" is a general title rather than referring to a specific person) while Harbour will play Red Guardian, the Soviet Union's answer to Captain America.
Black Widow hits theaters on May 1, 2020. For more, watch Johansson's entire VF interview below and then start making preparations for the next phase of the MCU with our roundup of upcoming Marvel movies.