MCU veteran Scarlett Johansson has had herself quite the year. The Black Widow actress had her first solo Marvel Studios outing hit both theater screens and TVs at home via Disney+ with its hybrid release. Shortly after that, she made headlines by filing a lawsuit against Disney for their treatment of her hero's film and compensation for taking the film directly to streaming.
The Black Widow lawsuit did come to some sort of settlement between the studio and Johansson and bonds seem to have been at least somewhat mended, which became more apparent when it was announced that ScarJo will be returning to work with Disney and Marvel Studios - this time in the form of a producer.
It is unknown what project she will be on the production team for, but with nearly a decade in the Marvel Studios movie-making machine, this does not feel like too big of a jump for Johansson.
Now, after months of silence on her MCU job description, Johansson has spoken out about how she feels moving from on-camera to the producer's chair.
Black Widow Actress Talks Upcoming MCU Project
In a recent interview with Collider, MCU staple Scarlett Johansson broke the silence regarding her taking on a producer role at Marvel Studios.
The Black Widow actress described working with Marvel as a "creative playground," and she excitedly expressed that going back to Marvel is like "working with family:"
“As far as Marvel goes, it’s like working with family there. Marvel has some of the best IP ever and you can really dream big there and nothing’s ever off the table and you kind of throw all these blue sky ideas around and see what sticks. It’s like a creative playground that’s just like a dream. Again, I have that shorthand with my fellow creatives there that comes from being in the world for 10 years with those guys.”
Johansson said she is ready for the challenge of producing as she has "worked [in Hollywood] for thirty years" and is ready to "[work] with people that want to be there and all want to creatively contribute:"
“I have worked for thirty years, which is insane when I say it out loud, but I think I just understand the efficiency of how productions run and how you thin the fat on a production and make things well-oiled.
I’ve learned that the fish rots from the head, which is very, very true, I think, in any creative space, but particularly a production involves many hundreds of people, and so yeah, just working with people that want to be there and all want to creatively contribute to the same kind of idea and building that kind of creative family I think is something I’m really excited about as I produce more and more things for other people.”
Johansson is Excited for Her Marvel Return
It makes a great deal of sense for Scarlett Johansson to transition from on-screen in the MCU to more of a behind-the-scenes role. The Black Widow star has put her time into the Marvel Studios mega-franchise, so she knows a thing or two about how this all works.
It would not be all that surprising if, as more Phase 1 and 2 heroes move on from the MCU, fans see those actors join production teams for future projects. There are few people in the world that know these characters and this universe (or Multiverse, at this point) as the people that started it all. These people built this thing from the ground up, so bringing them on to make the machine run smoothly is a smart move.
Something else that was noted upon ScarJo joining the production side of things is that it is nice to see that there was not too much love lost between the actress and Marvel Studios in their recent Black Widow lawsuit.
Obviously, the two sides came to some sort of agreement, and this new producer role may have even been a part of those talks. But fans who were worried about that bridge being burned between the Black Widow actress and Marvel Studios can take a deep breath and celebrate that Johansson is not gone from the MCU.
