If English actress Florence Pugh hasn’t gained “It-girl” status yet, she’s well on her way. Following a breakout role in 2016 with the festival favorite “Lady Macbeth,” trailed by further high-profile roles in “Outlaw King,” (2018), Park Chan Wook’s espionage series, “The Little Drummer Girl” (2018) and 2019’s winning, “Fighting With My Family” wrestling movie, Pugh has bagged a role with Marvel alongside Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming “Black Widow” movie, a spy action thriller.
Details are under wraps, but Pugh is expected to play a spy on the same level of Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff character, but she’ll likely be her moral opposite. What that means is unclear, because Romanoff, at least the version of the character before we met her in the “Avengers” movies, was a Russian assassin and not an exactly a morally virtuous. Romanoff has intimated through various Marvel movies, especially scenes in “Avengers: Age Of Ultron,” that she did some horrible things in the name of her leaders.
“Black Widow” is assumed to be a prequel and possible origin story; the details how Romanoff first became a spy, and presumably, how she got out and joined Nick Fury’s S.H.I.E.L.D., first appearing in “Iron Man 2.” THR says as much with their logline: “‘Black Widow’ is an internationally-set story centering on Natasha Romanoff, a spy, and assassin who grew up being trained by the KGB before breaking from their grasp and becoming an agent of SHIELD and Avenger.”
Jac Schaeffer wrote the most recent draft for “Black Widow,” and the movie is expected to shoot this summer, June to be specific. This means, there’s a good chance we’re going to hear or possibly see some “Black Widow” teaser footage at Comic-Con in San Diego and perhaps more details and casting will have arrived by then.
Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” opens in April and that that’s supposed to close the chapter on the first ten years of Marvel movies. Many of the original “Avengers,” including Romanoff, are not really expected to continue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a prequel gives Romanoff and Johannsson some wiggle room to appear again.
Comic-Con could see the official announcement of many Phase 4 Marvel films including ‘Widow,’ “Doctor Strange 2,” “Black Panther 2” and possibly “Eternals.” “Black Widow” is being directed by Aussie filmmaker Cate Shortland, known for the indies “Somersault,” the Nazi drama “Lore,” and “Berlin Syndrome.” Note, the site HashTag Show originally mentioned Pugh first as one of the contenders, but said Emma Watson was the frontrunner. It’s unclear if there’s another role that could go to her, but keep a look out for updates. Pugh will appear next in Ari Aster’s A24 summer horror, “Midsommar” which is scheduled for release on August 9.