Scarlett Johansson's time as Natasha Romanoff ended in Avengers: Endgame when the hero sacrificed herself to save the universe. However, in a rather perplexing turn of events, a Black Widow movie followed two years later.
Set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, it filled in some of the gaps in Natasha's past and gave the MCU a new Black Widow in Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova.
Black Widow was released in the few theaters which were open during the pandemic and on Disney+'s Premier Access service. Unhappy with the impact on the box office bonuses she'd been guaranteed in her contract, Johansson sued the House of Mouse and eventually reached a settlement which also saw her agree to produce a new project for Marvel Studios.
We've had sporadic updates on that since, and there's still no word on its lead or setting.
However, Nexus Point News has spotted an update on Courtney Baker's LinkedIn page which reveals that the Marvel Studios creative executive will "Serve as an executive on the upcoming TV project Untitled Scarlett Johansson series for Disney+."
Marvel Studios confirmed "we're doing a project with Scarlett" at The Marvels premiere but declined to elaborate any further. Given Pugh's popularity and Johansson's history with the character, a Black Widow TV series on Disney+ now seems likely.
However, with Bob Iger looking to curb spending on streaming, that could change. We also can't discount this possibly being an animated series which could, for example, further explore the Red Room and Natasha's place in it before she enlisted with S.H.I.E.L.D.
"It is still happening. Yes," Johansson said during the Asteroid City junket last June. "It is still happening, [but] not currently because nothing is happening right now. We're all sort of in this holding pattern as we wait out the writers' strike and potentially our own guild strike, and so on and so forth."
"Right before the strike, we were in the middle of developing it, and now everything is at a simmer," she added.
Before that, the actress reiterated that she was done playing Black Widow. "Yeah, I am sad, of course. I absolutely loved every filming experience I had, working 10 years with Marvel and with that amazing cast, and I love the character Natasha. I have a lot of empathy for her, and it was amazing to build that character over such a long period of time."
"I also feel really good about her story coming to a close," Johansson added. "I think she has a lot of dignity in her legacy."
What would you like her mystery MCU project on Disney+ to be?