It’s Official: Marvel Just Announced a BLACK WIDOW Movie

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel has signed Lore director Cate Shortland to helm the highly-anticipated-but-only-just-now-made-official Black Widow solo movie, which will star Scarlett Johansson.

THR goes on to say that Shortland beat out over 70 other candidates for the gig, including Amma Asante (Belle), Maggie Betts (Novitiate), Melanie Laurent (Galveston) and Kimberly Pierce (Boys Don't Cry). The Black Widow screenplay will be written by Jac Schaeffer, who most recently authored the script for Nasty Women, the gender-swapped remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. This will be Marvel's second female-led superhero movie, following next year's Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson.

If you're wondering who Shortland is or how she got the gig (a fair question, given what a relative unknown she is compared to some of the other names considered for the job!), THR offers the following:

"Shortland, who hails from Australia and does not have agency representation, had a fan in Johansson, who pushed for the helmer. The actress admired Shortland’s handling of the female lead in Lore, a critically acclaimed 2012 drama that told of a young woman who leads her siblings through Germany as the Allied army rolls in. Her most recent film was Berlin Syndrome, a 2017 thriller that starred Teresa Palmer."

An interesting choice, to be sure! 

Well, folks: what do you think? Still excited for a Black Widow solo movie? Got any theories on how this might fit in with Marvel's next phase of feature films? Have you seen Berline Syndrome and Lore, and if so, do you think Shortland's a strong choice for the job? We wanna hear it all. Discuss all of that (and whatever else is on your mind upon reading this news) in the comments below.

Stay tuned for further updates on the Black Widow movie as they become available.