While the likes of WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier may have truly started off Marvel's Phase 4, Black Widow began the movie side of matters. The film, which was originally set to be the first project post the Infinity Saga, had been delayed several times due to the pandemic. However, after over a year, fans were able to watch it.
For most, it didn't disappoint. Even if it wasn't perfect, the film provided a long-awaited spotlight on Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff and introduced important people from her past.
Among those people was Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, who arguably stole the show and made everyone fall in love with her. This may be for the better since she's going on to become a mainstay part of the MCU.
One of her best moments came during an emotional dinner scene, which featured Natasha's entire former faux Ohio family reunited for the first time in decades.
With how good that scene was, it's kind of hard to believe that some key creatives involved didn't think it was going to work... at all.
Feige Saved One of Black Widow's Best Scenes
In a conversation with Empire, Black Widow director Cate Shortland revealed that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige fought both her and Scarlett Johannson to keep the now fan-favorite scene of the broken family sitting down for dinner together.
According to Shortland, Feige "felt [it] needed to be in the film," and the director admitted that in the end, "it's beautiful for [her]:"
“He doesn’t give you many directives, he’s very free... but that was a scene he really felt needed to be in the film, and Scarlett and I kept fighting him on it, saying, ‘How will this ever work?’ But it became a very alive thing. You’ve got this bunch of people shipwrecked together, who are still desperately trying to cling onto the roles that they had in Ohio because that’s all they know. That’s all they have. And it’s beautiful for me.”
Once Again, Kevin Feige Makes a Good Call
Feige may not make the right decision 100% of the time, but there's no denying that in this case, a better decision couldn't have been made. Many who have seen the film would argue that it's the best moment of it all, and the emotionally charged atmosphere it created was a sight to behold.
It's a shame all the talk about Black Widow has been in a rather negative light thanks to the lawsuit conflict—which, thankfully, has been resolved. Does that mean Disney will ever work with Scarlett Johansson again? Who knows?
For those that haven't seen the movie yet or simply want to see it again, the film is now streaming free on Disney+ for all current subscribers. Let's face it though: anyone who's reading this has probably been subscribed since the day the service went live.
