The Marvel Cinematic Universe has come a long way since the first tease of “The Avengers Initiative” back in 2008 – during the post-credits scene of Iron Man. Two short years later, and director Jon Favreau returned with Iron Man 2 – which officially introduced several shared universe story elements and characters, most notably: Agent Coulson and Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow). Despite years of fan-favorite comic book stories, the packed plot and Phase 1 movie set-up of Iron Man 2 prevented Scarlett Johansson from placing Black Widow front and center in the MCU spotlight. As solo outings for the Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America all came and went, it wasn’t until Joss Whedon’s 2012 Avengers team-up that Black Widow became the scene-stealing fan-favorite, both in action and character, that she is today.

During a Chinese press junked for Civil War, the Russo brothers were asked whether they’d be interested in a Black Widow solo movie, to which Joe Russo stated:

Oh yeah, we love that character. We find that the character is one of the richest, if not the richest, character in the Marvel universe. She’s a very complex character. She’s haunted by demons and her understanding of the world is fascinating. I think there is a lot that can be done with that character.

Anthony Russo also made sure to point out that the Captain America 3 directors “love Scarlett” too.