'Black Widow’ Movie Gets Writer: Will It Be The MCU’s First R-Rated Film?
Eight years after making her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Black Widow will finally be getting her own standalone film.
Marvel is moving ahead with the highly anticipated solo Black Widow movie starring Scarlett Johansson and already has a writer on board for the project.
Jac Schaeffer To Pen The Script
According to multiple reports, screenwriter Jac Schaeffer has been tapped to author the script for the upcoming project, which is still in the early stages of development.
Schaeffer's credits include penning the script for the upcoming female-led Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake Nasty Women, which stars Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson. Hathaway and Schaeffer are also working together on the writer's Black List alien invasion comedy script, The Shower.
Schaeffer has also written and directed the 2009 sci-fi rom-com, TiMER, most recently wrote the script for the Disney short film Olaf's Frozen Adventure, which played before screenings of Pixar's Coco.
Standalone Black Widow Movie
In the past, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and Johansson have been very vocal about wanting to make a solo film based on the Marvel character.
Johansson first featured as the Russian spy-turned-superhero Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff, in 2010's Iron Man 2 and has since become an important character in the MCU, having starred in six Marvel films, including the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War.
The Black Widow film will be Marvel's second female-led superhero flick, following Brie Larson-starrer Captain Marvel, which is slated for release in 2019.
Will The Film Be R-Rated?
There has been a lot of speculation about whether Marvel will be wandering into R-rated territory anytime soon, particularly after Sony's Tom Hardy-led Venom project and the Deadpool franchise.
If Marvel wants its own offering of R-rated films, a solo Black Widow project would be the perfect way to do it.
Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Black Widow comic book series has been a huge hit with fans because it strikes a perfect balance between Romonaff's spy missions and hints of flashbacks from her past. Given how Marvel has explored the character's "Red Room" narrative in the past, a new approach to the storyline without being restricted by a PG-13 rating would be right way to go about it.
Marvel could also take inspiration from films like Atomic Blonde and the upcoming Jennifer Lawrence-starrer Red Sparrow. The Charlize Theron film resonated with audiences and although her character, Lorraine Broughton, is different from Romanoff's, "there definitely is a similar sort of energy in terms of how they could be told onscreen."
Fans will have to wait and see which direction Marvel takes with the Black Widow film, and if it ends up being R-rated. But, there a number of reasons why it could happen.
