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(Warning: Avengers: Endgame spoilers will be found below.)
As anticipated, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige’s opening of the Phase 4 information dump truck at Comic-Con contained a wealth of Black Widow prequel tidbits. There’s no word on whether Hawkeye will surface, but the footage screened at the convention teased Budapest references. We also now know that the movie will include multiple assassins referred to as Black Widows, including characters played by Rachel Weisz and Florence Pugh. Screenwriter Jac Schaeffer has now given a pretty badass interview to Inverse about her approach to the film, and we’re hearing more about when it takes place.
While the movie is officially a prequel, Schaeffer reveals that at least part of the film follows the events of Captain America: Civil War. In other words, Natasha Romanoff must “reckon with some of the red in her ledger” while heading out on her own. When asked whether Shaeffer is worried about kicking up some dust from the same trolls who gave advance negative Rotten Tomatoes reviews to Captain Marvel, she dispensed with them and also explained that she’s not sticking with “discriminatory” comic canon either:
“I’m not interested in adhering to comic canon that is discriminatory in any way or that violates my values system … When people react with hate, it saddens me. I think it’s a shame. But that’s not where I want to put my energy. I’m not interested in the loud, sour-grapes voices.”
Schaffer also addressed how bizarre it felt to watch Natasha die in Avengers: Endgame while sacrificing herself to secure the Soul Stone. She admitted that she, like most writers, has grown invested with her work on the standalone movie, so Schaffer felt that watching Black Widow die was “a little bit similar to seeing an ex-boyfriend with another partner,” given that she didn’t have a hand in Endgame. This movie, of course, premiered after extensive pre-production work (and actual production) on Black Widow, so the experience of watching Scarlett Johansson’s character die must have indeed been surreal.
Directed by Cate Shortland, the Black Widow movie will feature Taskmaster, whose photographic reflexes lead to mimicking maneuvers during physical conflicts, and the action sequences are part of what Schaffer was discussing in regard to dispensing with that discriminatory canon. Although the wait for this film has felt silly at times, it almost seems fitting that it’s part of Phase 4, which Kevin Feige has promised will deliver the unexpected. The film (also starring Strangers Thing‘ David Harbour) is scheduled for a May 1, 2020 release.
(Via Inverse)