Black Widow movie: Who is directing Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow Marvel spinoff?

Black Widow is one of the best known female superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Scarlett Johansson has played Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff in several MCU films

But the heroine has yet to get her own standalone flick. Until now.

Who is the Black Widow movie director?

An Australian filmmaker named Cate Shortland has signed on to direct Black Widow.

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Shortland is best known for the movie Lore, a Nazi drama from 2012.

Lore is the tale of a young woman leading her siblings through Germany as the Allied forces roll in and has received critical acclaim.

Shortland was chosen after a search stretching over six months.

The studio met with over 70 directors, making a female filmmaker the top priority.

Johansson herself was a huge supporter of Shortland for the role of director for Black Widow, admiring her for the way she handled the female lead in Lore.

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The Black Widow standalone movie is in active development and in the writing stages.

The film is slated to be a prequel set at the end of the Cold War period in the 1980s.

Marvel producer Kevin Feige told Deadline: “We think Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of her is amazing.

“She’s a lead Avenger and has amazing stories in her own right to tell that we think would be fun to turn into a standalone franchise.”

As of now, no plot for Black Widow has been confirmed and no synopsis has been released.

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But there is a bit of room for speculation based on Black Widow’s comic book history.

Black Widow’s closest friend is Hawkeye/Clint Barton played by Jeremy Renner, so it’s safe to assume he may feature in the movie.

The standalone movie will likely follow Black Widow’s backstory, her training at the Red Room Academy and the torture she experienced while there.

The comics featured Black Widow training with Bucky Barnes when they were both employed by the KGB.

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The comics also depicted a romance between Barnes and Romanoff.

How MCU would make this happen in the Black Widow movie is tricky, given during the Winter Soldier the two had no recollection of one another.

Johansson’s lead movie will be Marvel’s second female-focused film after Captain Marvel (though The Wasp deserves an honorary mention for being the first movie to feature the female superhero in its title), which is set to open March 8, 2019.

Black Widow is rumoured to have a 2020 release date, but this remains unconfirmed – for now.

Black Widow is currently in production.