Scarlett Johansson Asked to Have ‘Thunderbolts*' EP Credit Removed, Says Marvel Casts Get ‘So Enormous' You Sometimes ‘Feel Like a Device' to Move the Plot Along
Scarlett Johansson told David Harbour during a conversation for Interview magazine that she asked Marvel to remove her executive producer credit for 'Thunderbolts*,' the Marvel tentpole that opened in theaters in May. Harbour headlined 'Thunderbolts*' alongside Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, Julia Louis Dreyfus and more. Harbour and Pugh originally made their MCU debuts opposite Johansson in 'Black Widow.'
'It's the opening day of a movie that basically you are the seventh Thunderbolt in. Your character is all over this movie…. You are an executive producer on it. Congratulations,' Harbour said during the chat.
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'I asked to have my credit removed because I wasn't involved,' Johansson replied, more or less suggesting that contractual reasons were why she was credited.
Elsewhere during their Interview magazine discussion, the 'Black Widow' co-stars found common ground over the annoyances that arise while playing the same character for a decade or more. Johansson played Black Widow in the MCU for 11 years.
'Some of the films that I did for Marvel engaged my character more than others,' she said. 'Like in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' with Chris [Evans], we were really dynamic. In some of the other films, the cast was so enormous and there was so much plot to serve that you start to feel like you're a device to move it along. And if you're committed to five and a half months of that, it's like, 'Okay. I can't paint my nails, I can't get a haircut.' These sound like silly problems, but your identity is wrapped up in this job for a long time, and if you're not doing engaging work as an actor, you feel a little cagey sometimes.'
Harbour can relate to Johansson after playing Hopper on Netflix's 'Stranger Things' for nearly 10 years. The series comes to an end with its fifth and final season this upcoming holiday season.
'When I started I loved it so much,' Harbour said. 'Buddies of mine who'd done TV shows for many years said, 'By season three or four you'll be running.' And I was like, 'Never! I love all these guys so much.' And then you get to a certain point where you're like, 'How much more story is there?' You're having to play a lot of the same beat, and there's a feeling where you're like, 'I want to take a risk. I want to do something that people haven't seen me do before.' So yeah, after 10 years, it's like, 'Okay.''
Johansson's Black Widow was killed off in 2019's 'Avengers: Endgame.' The standalone 'Black Widow' movie served as a prequel. The actor has stressed in the years since that she does not plan on returning to Marvel.
'It would be very hard for me to understand in what capacity [returning] would make sense for me, for the character that I play,' Johansson told Vanity Fair earlier this year. 'I miss my buddies and really would love to be with them forever, but what works about the character is that her story is complete. I don't want to mess with that. For fans, too — it's important for them.'
Head over to Interview's website to read Johansson's latest interview with Harbour.
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