Marvel has reportedly tapped Cate Shortland to direct its standalone Black Widow movie.
The Australian director is known for films such as Berlin Syndrome (2017) and Lore (2012), as well as writing on TV series such as The Kettering Incident (2016).
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Marvel met with more than 70 directors over half a year in its search for a Black Widow director. Shortland will be the first woman to solo-direct a Marvel Cinematic Universe title, and only the second woman director in the franchise after Anna Boden, who is directing 2019’s Captain Marvel along with Ryan Fleck.
Earlier this year it was reported that Jac Schaeffer had been tapped to write the Black Widow script.
Marvel did not respond to a request for comment.
Played by Scarlett Johansson, Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, made her MCU debut in 2010’s Iron Man 2. The spy-turned-superhero has since appeared in The Avengers (2012), Captain Amercia: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
“I think [Black Widow’s] a character who has a unique moral compass,” Johansson previously told The Times. “She’s the only Avenger ... whose superpower is she’s human. Her ability to strategise, her foresight says a lot about her as a person. I think in some weird, twisted-around way she’s as altruistic as a person can really be.”
The long-rumoured standalone Black Widow movie was first hinted at in 2014 when Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige indicated interest in exploring the character’s backstory. Since then Feige has mentioned that the studio is “creatively and emotionally” committed to the standalone film.
Black Widow will be Marvel’s second standalone film headlined by a woman after Captain Marvel, which is scheduled to hit theatres March 8, 2019.
