Total Film – One of the virtues of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been its adaptability. The franchise’s superhero movies have frequently been moulded to surprising genre choices, like paranoid thriller (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), heist movie (Ant-Man), high-school comedy (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and psychedelic space fantasy (Thor: Ragnarok).

Black Widow – which recently had its original intended release date postponed because of the impacts of the coronavirus – once again uses another unexpected format. “One of the themes of the film is family,” says star Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming issue of our sister publication Total Film magazine. “What is family? How does it define us? How does our past define us? How does our family – however we define it – make up who we are, for better or worse?”

Natasha, the Avengers’ rogue operative, will find herself in a very unexpected assignment… a family drama. “I think part of Kevin Feige’s genius is that he always thinks about what fans expect out of these films and then gives them something that they never could’ve dreamed of,” adds Johansson. “The idea of Natasha Romanoff in a family drama is the least expected thing, and I had to wrap my head around what that was going to be because there’s such a big tonal shift.”

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Scarlett Johansson looks back on playing Black Widow in films spanning a decade.

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Go behind the scenes of Scarlett’s Entertainment Weekly April 2020 cover shoot.

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Scarlett was featured on the cover of Entertainment Weekly – April 2020 to promote Black Widow, With came with big interview and amazing new photoshoot.

EW.com – Johansson readies for battle the way a veteran doctor scrubs in for surgery or an astronaut gears up for her eighth space flight. Hair drawn back in a tidy braid, she barely glances down at Natasha Romanoff’s familiar black catsuit as she buckles every buckle and zips every zipper with rhythmic efficiency. Squeezed into a closet-size armory on a Manhattan Beach soundstage, Johansson’s assassin-turned-Avenger is surrounded by all the guns, knives, and glossy wigs a superspy could ever need. She moves like she’s been doing this for a decade — because she has.

But this is something new: There’s no Captain America or Hawkeye to assist her, no S.H.I.E.L.D. backup waiting out of sight. This is Black Widow’s long-awaited solo movie, set in the turmoil between the all-star superhero team’s breakup in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War and their reunion in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. The mission she’s prepping for is personal, as the former Russian agent is going up against opponents from her past. When a fellow Widow, Rachel Weisz’s Melina, wonders how they’ll tackle one particularly formidable foe, Natasha replies, “Just get me close to him.” It’s not an arrogant quip or a self-congratulatory boast, just a matter-of-fact threat from a spy who is very, very good at her job.

Then, just as Johansson pulls on her last glove with a satisfying snap…darkness. The studio has lost power; in the dark, someone calls out for flashlights. After a quick investigation, the production crew discovers the blackout is not the work of a diabolical supervillain but a blown transformer nearby. Natasha’s mission will have to wait a little while longer — but that’s all right. Black Widow knows how to wait.

When Johansson made her debut as Black Widow in 2010’s Iron Man 2, the then-nascent Marvel Cinematic Universe was more like a small galaxy. Today, it stands as the most profitable film franchise of all time, a sprawling, 20-plus-film juggernaut that’s demolished box office records and turned obscure comic characters into marquee names. Among them is Romanoff, the scarlet-haired superspy without superpowers.

Johansson’s portrayal became an immediate fan favorite, thanks to her sarcasm and general penchant for ass-kicking, plus her dramatic evolution — she goes from playing Tony Stark’s undercover personal assistant to Avengers founding member to savior of the universe.

Now, after 10 years and seven movies, this spider is finally playing solitaire. Cate Shortland directs the Black Widow stand-alone film (out May 1), a prequel that follows Nat before — spoiler alert! — she sacrificed herself to thwart Thanos in last year’s Avengers: Endgame. The Natasha we’ve known has usually preferred to look ahead instead of behind: First trained to be a killer as a young girl in the secret Soviet Red Room program, she worked as an assassin and KGB agent on some less-than-heroic missions. She’s since devoted her life to more virtuous pursuits, whether that’s foiling alien invasions (several times) or teaching Hulk self-care. Now she’s forced to reexamine her history — and past trauma — when she’s drawn into a Red Room-related conspiracy. “I thought it was interesting to explore this part of her life before she rejoins the Avengers, before she makes that ultimate sacrifice,” Johansson, 35, explains. “How does she become this full person from all these broken pieces?”

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