MCU star Scarlett Johansson gets candid about her time as Black Widow, saying some movies had "so much plot" that "you start to feel like you're a device to move it along"

Yahoo

a day ago

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Four years after saying goodbye to the MCU, Scarlett Johansson opened up in a recent interview about the positives and negatives of her time as a superhero.
The actress, who stars in the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth, talked about the months-long commitment to some projects, and the drawbacks of not doing "engaging work".
"Some of the films that I did for Marvel engaged my character more than others," she explained during a candid conversation with her Black Widow co-star David Harbour published in Interview Magazine. The Thunderbolts* (aka The New Avengers) actor asked Johansson about her 10 years as Natasha Romanoff, which apparently had its ups and downs.
"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," she admitted.
A major role in a superhero franchise also comes with some commitments, and, according to Johansson, they weren't always rewarding. "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," she explained.
Harbour will be reprising his role as the Red Guardian for the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, and he joked in the interview about the possibility of a Black Widow return too. "We all know you're the secret character. We all know the Black Widow comes back from the dead," he tells her at one point.
Johansson is not having it. "If I come back from the dead, then half the world's population dies. Didn't you see Endgame for Christ's sake?" she replies, to no one's surprise. The actress has been very clear in recent months that she is not planning to return to the MCU any time soon.
"Natasha is dead. She is dead. She's dead. Okay?," she said only a few months ago. "They [the fans] just don't want to believe it. They're like, 'But she could come back!' Look, I think the balance of the entire universe is held in her hand. We're going to have to let it go. She saved the world. Let her have her hero moment."
With her Marvel days definitely over, Johansson is joining another legendary franchise this summer with Jurassic World Rebirth, which is set to hit theaters on July 2.
For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or, check out our complete list of movie release dates.