‘Black Widow’ Movie Casts Florence Pugh Opposite Scarlett Johansson

Florence Pugh has been cast as the second female lead along with Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming ‘Black Widow’ movie, which is going to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as reported by Variety. While details of her role remain under wraps at the moment, we had reported that Emma Watson, famous for playing Hermione Granger in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, was considered for the role. She was the frontrunner on the list along with stars like Alice Englert and Dar Zuzovsky. However, Marvel Studio circled back to Pugh and cast her instead.

While the extent of Pugh’s role is unclear, the requirements for the character are reportedly physically demanding, indicating there might be several fighting and action sequences, as befitting a standalone movie about the deadliest spy in the Marvel universe. This also leads us to believe that Pugh’s character might be a spy who is at the same level as Natasha Romanoff or Black Widow and is likely her moral opposite. Allegedly, the synopsis of the upcoming ‘Black Widow’ movie goes thus, “At birth the Black Widow (aka Natasha Romanova) is given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. When the U.S.S.R. breaks up, the government tries to kill her as the action movies to present-day New York, where she is a freelance operative. The standalone film will find Romanoff living in the United States 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. At birth the Black Widow (aka Natasha Romanova) is given to the KGB, which grooms her to become its ultimate operative. When the U.S.S.R. breaks up, the government tries to kill her as the action movies to present-day New York, where she is a freelance operative. The standalone film will find Romanoff living in the United States 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union.” In all likelihood, this movie will see Romanoff break away from her Russian masters and join her American masters, vis a vis, SHIELD, before eventually becoming an Avenger. The script of the film has been written by Jac Schaeffer and the project will be helmed by Cate Shortland, who is most famous for the Nazi drama ‘Lore’. Shooting is expected to begin in June in London.

Johansson, who first began portraying the character in ‘Iron Man 2‘ has high hopes about the possibilities surrounding the standalone film. She commented, “I love playing this character. And I think there is definitely an opportunity to explore the Widow as a woman who has kind of come into her own and is making independent and active choices for herself probably for once in her life. You know she hasn’t always had that possibility so if it fit that criteria then yes I would want to do it”.

As for Pugh, we are sure her acting prowess will be more than suited for the Marvel movie. The actress has been on the rise ever since she broke out with her performance in ‘Lady Macbeth’. This was followed by a leading role in Greta Gerwig‘s ‘Little Women’. She has also starred in works like ‘Fighting With My Family’, Netflix’s ‘Outlaw King’ and ‘The Little Drummer Girl’, the AMC limited series. She will next be seen in Ari Aster’s horror film ‘Midsommar’.

If her role in the MCU becomes a success, Pugh could become a recurring star in the universe, that will be seeking to expand and add new characters as the current phase of movies are ending with the release of ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ on April 26, 2019.

SPONSORED LINKS