Scarlet Johansson: Black Widow Movie Will "Honor" Character's Fate

Even though Avengers: Endgame came out more than a year ago back in April 2019, emotions have still been understandably running high among fans about how the film worked as a conclusion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to that point. One lingering point of contention has been how the movie closed out Black Widow's storyline: (spoiler alert) Choosing to sacrifice herself in Vormir so Hawkeye could obtain the Soul Stone. Many fans felt Black Widow was at the very least deserving of a funeral scene just like Tony Stark's. But Scarlet Johansson, the actor who portrayed Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, doesn't see it quite that way.

"I love Natasha," Johansson told Total Film. "She's had an incredible 10-year journey, and I felt that she was finally able to make an active choice. It seemed very in-character, that ultimate sacrifice that she makes. She's made peace with that, and, in some ways, has known that's her destiny all along, in a weird poetic way. When you look back on the films, that's in there. All the films have led her to that choice--or to be able to make that choice; or for it to be a choice."

Johansson also indicated that the upcoming Black Widow movie will offer "resolution" on what the character's death meant, and director Cate Shortland elsewhere in the interview says that the film will "honor" Natasha's death in Endgame: "That [death] gives Black Widow an added heart at the end, because it's not wrapping [the story] up… It's actually what you feel--it's not a narrative thing. It's like, how do we make the audience feel?"

Black Widow is currently scheduled to debut in theaters November 6--but may wind up being delayed. If that happens, it would make 2020 the first year since 2009 where an MCU movie has not been released. The film comes from a screenplay by Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Agent Carter), and its cast includes David Harbour (Stranger Things), Florence Pugh (Midsommar), and William Hurt (Captain America: Civil War).