LEADING LADIES
Scarlett Johansson's Fantastic Year
Scarlett Johansson’s had quite a year, professionally, from (spoiler alert) sacrificing herself in Avengers: Endgame to divorcing Adam Driver in Marriage Story. With 2019 winding down, let’s take a look back at her year and peek into her future projects.
2019 started out strong for Johansson with the release of Avengers: Endgame on April 26. If you haven’t seen it, where have you been the last six months? The final entry in Marvel’s Phase 3 saw Johansson back as Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. She teamed up with the superheroes who survived Thanos’ snap at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. Her character reversed the effects of that snap and brought everyone back. Sadly, while retrieving the Soul Stone, Black Widow traded her life so Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) could get that stone. It brought an end to one of the franchise’s most complicated superheroes. Or did it? We’ll revisit that in a moment.
She followed up Avengers: Endgame with two different films. First, a journey to Nazi-era Germany where she plays an unlikely hero in Taika Waititi’s WWII comedy Jojo Rabbit. Johansson is Rosie, the mother of the film’s titular character and a secret Nazi dissident. While her son idolizes Hitler and creates his own führer as his imaginary friend, she quietly safeguards a young Jewish girl in her home. Jojo Rabbit was released October 18.
She then takes on role in Noah Baumbach’s relationship drama, Marriage Story. Johansson plays a woman going through a divorce while her husband (Adam Driver) lives on the other side of the country. The Netflix-produced film grabbed a lot of attention at this year’s Telluride Film Festival. Marriage Story gets a limited theatrical release on November 6, followed by a December 6 release on Netflix.
Now, back to Black Widow. While Johansson died in Avengers: Endgame, she’s playing the Russian assassin, at least once more, in the upcoming stand alone Black Widow. This film examines her mysterious character’s past and actions between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Joining Johansson in the Marvel universe are Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz. As of now, Black Widow is slated for a spring 2020 release.
