We bid farewell to Natasha Romanoff in Avengers: Endgame, and while the character did return for a prequel adventure in the Black Widow solo movie, Scarlett Johansson has made it clear that she is officially done playing the hero - but that doesn't mean she's completely finished with the MCU.
During the Black Widow press rounds a few years ago, Kevin Feige revealed that he was collaborating with Johansson in a producing capacity on a "non-Black Widow related top-secret Marvel Studios project," and the actress confirmed that she is still on board during a 2023 interview.
"It is still happening. Yes," Johansson told ComicBook.com during the Asteroid City junket. "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.
A recent rumor claimed that the mysterious project would be a Disney+ series, and GFR is now reporting that it's going to be based on a relatively obscure Marvel Comics hero named The Blonde Phantom.
Louise Grant, aka the Blonde Phantom, was introduced in the pages of All Select Comics back in 1946 before going on to feature in her own solo series. The character was later reintroduced as Louise Mason in The Sensational She-Hulk comics from 1989 to 1994.
Johansson will produce the project, but there's no word on her potentially playing the lead.
This source has had a few big scoops pan out in the past, but they don't have the strongest track record. However, MTTSH is also claiming that a Blonde Phantom Disney+ series is in development - though there's no mention of Johansson.
It may also be worth noting that Johansson mentioned the Blonde Phantom in an older interview when discussing other characters she was in the mix to play when she spoke to Marvel Studios about joining the MCU as Black Widow.
We'd say this is worth keeping an eye on, at the very least. What do you make of the rumor? Any Blonde Phantom fans out there? Drop us a comment down below.