LIKE
Inevitably enough, Marvel's
Kevin Feige has let slip the fact that the studio is in talks with
Scarlett Johansson to reprise her
Iron Man 2 role as
Black Widow in a movie that rotates around the character. Joss Whedon's
The Avengers movie will be where you'll see her next, obviously, but if the studio can work something out with Johansson, apparently a full-fledged film will be up next on her docket. I can't see her turning down the opportunity, either--by all accounts, Ms. Johansson had a fun time filming her action scenes in
IM2, and it's not like there are a lot of female-led action movies starring people other than
Angelina Jolie and
Milla Jovovich.
Of course, the elephants in the room here are
Elektra and
Catwoman. One of those was bottomlessly awful, and one was competent but unnecessary--I'll let you guess which one's which! Anyway, the track record for female-driven comic book movies isn't exactly sterling, but if anyone can turn that trend around, I'd place my bets on Marvel. I'm not sure where they go with the character, though; she was a pretty face and had some fun fight scenes in
IM2, but apart from the sex appeal, the character was kind of...boring. Let's hope the expansion to a 100-minute starring role lets them flesh her out a bit.
Both Elektra and Catwoman were bottomlessly awful... Elektra might have been... uh... "better?".... but don't try to make that movie look good by comparing it to Halle Berry taking a shit on film. Jennifer Garner may be the worst popular actress of our generation (I say that despite liking her on Alias).
But yeah, this can be solid.
Here's a related sub-topic:
Is there anyone out there who actually thinks she can act as a character different from herself?
I always felt she'd do really well in a Sarah Connor/ John Creasy type role where she's super detached & kinda crazy, just out to kill whatever gets in her way provided it interferes with what she treasures most.