Listen-Up Marvel, Neil Marshall Wants To Direct That BLACK WIDOW Spin-Off

British director Neil Marshall has made a career making fun B-movies, from Dog Soldiers to the more serious cult horror hit The Descent. He's also known for having strong female characters in his projects, his last two films having been more female-driven (Centurion and Doomsday) than his peers. Neil is responsible for two of the big event episodes of Game of Thrones as well, directing episodes Blackwater and The Watchers On The Wall. Easily, the two more action-heavy episodes of the series.

The director's next project will be a sequel to the classic tale of King Kong entitled Skull Island: Blood of The King, set 25 years after the original events. He recently directed the pilot episode of NBC's Constantine, which is based on the DC comic series Hellblazer. That might be the only comic book property the director is willing to dip-his-toes-in with, as he tells VanityFair that he'd take a shot at making a Black Widow film. Explaining why he believes the super-spy would work as a feature film.

I would love to do a Black Widow movie. That’s perfect, I would love to do that. That character is really interesting, she doesn’t have any superpowers, she just has extraordinary skills, and the world that she comes from, being this ex-K.G.B. assassin, I find that really fascinating, yeah.

As it stands, Marvel has quieted their talk of a Widow spin-off. So much so, that Kevin Feige has basically stated Natasha is more valuable as a supporting character. This does make sense, considering she has helped-out three Marvel franchises (Iron Man, Avengers, Captain America). We know that screenwriter Nicole Perlman (Guardians of The Galaxy) confirmed herself, that she did work on a new script treatment back in 2010/2011. Resurrecting the previous incarnation that was setup at Lionsgate back in 2008 by writer-director David Hayter (Watchmen, X2, X-Men).  New development on the project is currently unknown, and is considered in limbo. It's assumed that Marvel might put resources towards a Ms Marvel/Captain Marvel movie first.

Scarlett has proven herself as a box office draw this summer with Lucy opening number one (beating Dwayne Johnson's Hercules which opened the same weekend), and her character appearing in huge box office installments are definitely helping awareness/demand. The character's mysterious past concerning the events in Budapest and Osaka could be fun to explore, but being left as a mystery might be better too. Also, Scarlett's recent pregnancy could slow-down her action roles for next little while.



While we'd prefer a female director handling the female hero films at Marvel Studios, I don't think we should automatically dismiss Neil from the running. Considering a majority of his films are female-positive and has given solid roles to women in his previous work. He could also be the next Russo Brothers or even James Gunn, with a little help from Marvel. Plus, we already know that the studio people are fans of Game of Thrones, since they ended-up hiring Alan Taylor to direct Thor: The Dark World.

SOURCE: VANITYFAIR 

Gentle Giant's Black Widow Statue From CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER Gives Us The First Look At The New Costume

Is Black Widow The Secondary Lead In CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER?

Marvel has been trying for years to put together a Black Widow movie. It started when the project was at Lionsgate but that would eventually go into limbo after Catwoman and Elektra bombed. Widow would be played by Scarlett Johansson in Iron Man 2 which fuelled talk of a new spin-off. A new script was penned by Nicole Perlman who wrote the original draft of Guardians of The Galaxy but seems like it's still in development.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will include her and from this synopsis gives the impression that Natasha will have a larger role than previous Marvel films. It could actually be more of a secondary lead, as she's rumored to have connections with the shadowy enemies (her Russian employers?) and will be partnering up with Rogers to battle them. It's possible Widow having her character get more of a spotlight might mean her spin-off is right around the corner.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will pick-up where “Marvel’s The Avengers” left off, as Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C."

Scarlett Johansson Talks 'BLACK WIDOW' Spin-Off, Won't Appear In 'IRON MAN 3'

ScreenRant was able to talk to Scarlett Johansson on her future in the Marvel universe as Black Widow. Right off the bat she confirmed that she won't be showing up in Iron Man 3. While her name appeared on a casting call sheet included with the returning cast it looks like Stark will indeed be going solo. Scarlett did talk about her vision for a Black Widow film. That vision seems to be a woman-on-the-run type of film similar to Haywire or the Bourne franchise. The spin-off has been mentioned to be in the works for about two years now but nothing official has been announced. I think it could be interesting to see a non-superpower focused Marvel film since the studio is keen on branching out into different genres.

"I don't know, I hope so...You build this character with the hopes the fans are like "we want more"..I personally think there's an awesome Black Widow movie in there, that's a kind of a Bourne-type of film. That could take this whole comic genre in a completely different direction...I've spoken to Marvel and Kevin Fegie there's so much stories to draw from."

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