Finally, Marvel has hired a female director for the Black Widow stand-alone movie
After years of kicking ass on the big screen, Black Widow is finally getting her own standalone movie. Fans have been clamoring for one ever since the Russian spy-turned S.H.I.E.L.D. agent first appeared on Iron Man 2, and now the film is so close to becoming a reality because Marvel Studios has found their director — Cate Shortland.
Word on the street is that the studio met with over 70 (!!!) directors to find the ideal candidate. Their top priority was to hire a female filmmaker, even if it meant having to stall the search for a little while, and kudos to Marvel for making the effort. The shortlist included Amma Asante (Belle, A United Kingdom), Maggie Betts (Novitiate), Melanie Laurent (Galveston), and Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry) — all very promising candidates. But in the end, they went with Cate Shortland, making her the first solo woman to take the reins on a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Australian director is best known for 2012 Nazi drama Lore, and 2017 thriller Berlin Syndrome, both of which starred female leads.
In true Marvel fashion, details for the upcoming Black Widow standalone project are being kept tightly under the wraps, but we do know that Jac Schaeffer will pen the script. Her credits include The Shower, a comedy about an alien invasion coinciding with a baby shower, and Nasty Women, an upcoming remake of the film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Also (though we’ve currently got a few mixed feelings about her), Scarlett Johansson is set to reprise her role, making this the seventh time she’s played the role.
It’s also worth noting that Shortland isn’t Marvel’s first female director, but she is the first one to helm a film alone. Anne Boden is directing Captain Marvel with her directing partner (/also her husband) Ryan Fleck.
With such a talented pool of women steering the course for the film, we’re confident that Black Widow is about to become one of Marvel’s best projects to date. Now can we get a release date, pretty please?
