The movie that Marvel Studios has long promised is a step closer to reality—Black Widow will be helmed by Australian director Cate Shortland. Her filmography includes Somersault, The Silence, Lore and Berlin Syndrome, all which were nominated for or received accolades in various film festivals.
The MCU’s own Natasha Romanoff, Scarlett Johansson, was reported by THR to be a fan of Shortland’s work in Lore, which told the story of a young woman leading her siblings through Germany in the aftermath of World War II. Shortland was picked out of a pool of roughly 70 directors, with Marvel prioritizing a female director.
The latest draft of the screenplay was written by Jac Schaeffer, who has a female-centric remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels releasing in 2019.
While Marvel fans are no doubt excited for Captain Marvel, the studio’s first female-led film that is sure to tie into the next Avengers film, Scarlett Johansson has courted controversy after she was announced to portray Dante “Tex” Gill, a transgender man. A statement from a representative defending the casting cited Felicity Huffman, Jared Leto and Jeffrey Tambor in justifying Johansson taking the role instead of a trans performer—and there are some names there that you probably don’t want to compare your client with. It also doesn’t help that Johansson is doing this project with the same director who brought us the Ghost in the Shell remake, recalling everyone’s memories of her whitewashing nonsense back then.
But anyway, while that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Marvel, it may be hard for many to be excited about another ScarJo-led film. But hey, maybe we’ll finally know what happened in Budapest, if that’s something you give a shit about.
‘Black Widow’ Movie Finds Director in Cate Shortland [THR]
