And the “Black Widow” news keeps on coming.
Hot off the heels of the recent report (like just an hour ago) of David Harbour joining Florence Pugh and Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming Marvel Studios superhero film, a report just surfaced from Variety that says actress Rachel Weisz is in early talks to join the standalone spy film.
“Black Widow” is largely suspected to be the film that follows this summer’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” as the next installment in the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe. Outside of that, and the fact that Johansson is the lead, there’s really no information that we can confirm about the film, particularly about the plot. For years, it’s been rumored that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was working out a way to bring the Avenger to the big screen in her own feature film, with ideas of a prequel being tossed around. However, with “Avengers: Endgame” on the horizon, we have no idea what the future of the MCU looks like, so the idea of this being a sequel to that film is a definite possibility, as well.
The only other thing we know for sure is that Jac Schaeffer wrote the script for “Black Widow,” and Marvel has hired Cate Shortland, best known for her film “Lore,” to direct. It’s also being reported that the film will begin production in June, for a suspected 2020 release.
Weisz is coming off one of the best years of her acting career, with a starring role in the Academy Award-winning film “The Favourite.” The period dramedy earned the actress her second Oscars nomination. She had previously won the Best Supporting Actor trophy for “The Constant Gardener.” “Black Widow” would mark the actresses debut in a superhero film, joining the ever-growing cast of A-listers that have graced Marvel Studios films.