TiMER’s Jac Schaeffer To Pen Black Widow Script
by Erik Amaya
It seems all those jokes about Red Sparrow got Marvel Studio to commit to a Black Widow film.
Variety reports that TiMER writer-director Jac Schaeffer will pen the first draft of Marvel’s Black Widow film. The project, of course, is based on the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck; and played by Scarlett Johansson since 2009’s Iron Man 2.
It is unclear whether or not the film will delve into the mysterious — and somewhat contradictory — origins of Natasha Romanov, the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who revealed that organization’s corruption by Hydra in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, or tell an entirely new tale as the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe moves into its next phase. What is clear, however, is that Marvel Studios finally feels confident enough with the character and women heroes to finally let Nat headline a movie.
Originally a Russian spy, Natasha eventually defected to the US and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. As elements of her origin set her in a specific part of history, it is unclear how much of her time as a Russian deep cover agent will ever inform her MCU counterpart. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, some of her training was revealed in flashback and later by Black Widow herself in a deeply controversial scene. Of course, that training could have taken place at any time or, maybe, hint at Nat being much older than she appears.
Curiously, much of her Russian spy years appears to be co-opted by the Jennifer Lawrence film Red Sparrow, leading many to @ Marvel on Twitter about the similarities.
But alongside next years, Captain Marvel, a Black Widow project suggests the studio finally feels bold enough to give the women of the Marvel universe films of their own. Previously, studio executives had been non-committal on the issue despite a groundswell of support for characters like Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, the Wasp, Agent Carter and more.
It is unclear when the film might finally be released, but expected sometime after 2020 and the big MCU resolution in the fourth Avengers film.
