Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury character gets a lot of attention for being the glue that has held the Marvel movie universe together, but since Iron Man 2, Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff (aka The Black Widow) has played a more vital role in the action with major contributions to The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and soon The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Because of this and the general badassedness of the character, fans have clamored for a solo film for Black Widow, but when Marvel announced their expansive plans for Phase 3, that project was nowhere to be seen.
Could it happen in the future? Sure, possibly, but comic book writer Nathan Edmondson seems like he wants to force the issue, or at least, give a life raft of hope to Black Widow fans with the release of his intrigue and fisticuffs-laden 6 page sample script for what he’d like to see happen with a Black Widow solo film that would seemingly delve deep into the character’s origins.
Presently, Edmondson is teaming up monthly with artist Phil Noto on the Black Widow comic book for Marvel, so he’s obviously familiar with the character and her narrative strengths, but while the script (which you can read here) is awesome and not out of reach conceptually, it’s hard to imagine that this act will move the needle much.
Don’t get me wrong, I do think that comic fans and the marketplace do matter to Marvel movie universe execs like Kevin Feige. Do we get a Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers film without the awesome Carol Corps and comic writer Kelly Sue DeConnick? Maybe, but maybe not. The thing is, Edmondson’s comic isn’t the force that DeConnick’s book is (few are — Kelly Sue gave that character a rebirth), and Carol Danvers was nowhere to be seen in the films prior to the announcement and became a symbol of Marvel’s failures to launch a female character led solo film. That’s not exactly the case with Black Widow, though again, there is a legion of fans who would like to see more of her story and another female character led solo film.
I’m among that group of fans, but I’m also content to see Marvel use characters in a way that services the overall universe without branching out into their own stories. Give Black Widow, Bruce Banner, and Hawkeye added dimension within the team-up movies and as supporting characters in other films. To me, that’s what’s best for the Marvel movie universe on the whole right now. There’s also something to be said for preserving some of the mystery from Natasha’s past.
With all of that said, though, if Marvel does move forward with a Black Widow solo film at some point, I nominate Edmondson to finish what he started.
Via BuzzFeed