Scarlett Johansson is done playing Natasha Romanoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The 38-year-old actress confirmed in a recent interview with Variety that she has no plans to play Black Widow on the big screen again. Scarlett said it’s “bittersweet” that her role as the iconic superhero is finished after eight films. “Yeah, I am sad, of course,” she admitted. “I absolutely loved every filming experience I had, working 10 years with Marvel and with that amazing cast, and I love the character Natasha. I have a lot of empathy for her, and it was amazing to build that character over such a long period of time.”
Scarlett made her big screen debut as Black Widow in 2010’s Iron Man 2. Her character tragically died in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, but Scarlett reprised the role one last time for 2021’s Black Widow, which finally told Natasha’s origin story.
“I also feel really good about her story coming to a close,” Scarlett also said in the Variety interview. “I think she has a lot of dignity in her legacy.” The other Marvel movies Scarlett appeared in include The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Captain Marvel (only in the mid-credits scene).
Scarlett had confirmed she was finished playing Black Widow even before her standalone movie came out in the midst of the pandemic. “I really am happy with the work I accomplished in my last decade-plus at Marvel. I feel like I’m going out on a high note with a movie I’m incredibly proud of,” she told Variety in July 2021. “I feel like my work with Natasha is complete, if that is such a thing. I’ve explored many facets of her person, and feel that her choice to sacrifice her life for her best friends was one that she made actively and with resolve.”
Scarlett’s final movie in the MCU did launch several new characters, including Florence Pugh‘s Yelena Belova, David Harbour‘s Red Guardian, and Olga Kurylenko‘s Taskmaster. They will all return for Thunderbolts, set for release on July 26, 2024.