Marvel's upcoming Black Widow movie will more than likely mark our final time seeing Natasha Romanoff in action, but it doesn't sound like Scarlett Johansson has completely ruled out the possibility of a return to the MCU down the line.
Romanoff heroically sacrificed herself to give her teammates a chance to undo Thanos' universe-decimating actions in Avengers: Endgame, and since Cate Shortland's film is a prequel story set between the events of Civil War and Infinity War, the chances of us seeing the character again - post-Endgame, at least - are very slim.
During a new interview with Total Film, Johansson spoke about her tenure as the former Red Room assassin, and the possibility of collaborating with her "Marvel family" again.
“It’s definitely bittersweet because I love my Marvel family,” she tells the mag. “I’m never going to be ready to not be a part of it. They’ll always be family. I’ll never feel ready to not be in it, because I hate to feel like I’m missing out on stuff with them. And who knows? Maybe at some point, we’ll have some opportunity to collaborate in some other kind of way."
Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean she's looking forward to reprising the role of Black Widow, as there's always a chance Johansson might be interested in taking on a role behind the camera on a future MCU project.
Whatever happens, it sounds like the actress is very proud of what she's accomplished during her time in the role, and feels the Black Widow movie is a fitting swansong.
“In every way, and certainly as an actor, it’s always better to leave a situation when you’re on top. And to feel good about something. It’s great. And I feel on top with this. I really do. I’m really proud of it. So we’ll see how everybody else sees it! But I will always love my experience of it.”
Back in March, Disney officially announced that Black Widow would debut on Disney+ Premier Access at the same time it hits theaters. The Cate Shortland-directed prequel was set for a theatrical release on May 7 before being pushed back to July 9, and will now be made available to Disney+ subscribers for an extra $30.
Black Widow finds Natasha Romanoff "confronting the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Joining Johansson in the new feature film are Florence Pugh as Yelena, David Harbour as Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina."