Black Widow was initially created as a comic book character named Natasha Romanova, first appearing as a recurring, non-costumed, Russian-spy antagonist in the feature "Iron Man", beginning in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). Five issues later, she recruits the besotted costumed archer and later superhero Hawkeye to her cause. Her government later supplies her with her first Black Widow costume and high-tech weaponry, but she eventually defects to the United States after appearing, temporarily brainwashed against the U.S., in the superhero-team series The Avengers #29 (July 1966). The Widow later becomes a recurring ally of the team before officially becoming its sixteenth member many years later. Her look was substantially revised in The Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July 1970), with shoulder-length red hair (instead of her former short black hair), a skintight black costume, and wristbands which fired spider threads.[2]In 2004, Lionsgate acquired the film rights for Black Widow,[3] and in April announced that a Black Widow motion picture, featuring the Natasha Romanova version, was in the script stage by screenwriter-director David Hayter, with Avi Arad producing.[4][5] By June 2006, Lionsgate had dropped the project, and the rights to the character reverted to Marvel.[6] Hayter and Marvel tried getting another financier to develop the project, but Hayter "never felt comfortable that we had found a place that was willing to take the movie, and the character, seriously." This left Hayter "heartbroken", but he hoped the film would be made "some day".[7]In January 2009, Marvel entered early talks with Emily Blunt to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2,[8] though she was unable to take the role due to a previous commitment to star in Gulliver's Travels.[9] In March 2009, Scarlett Johansson signed on to play Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, with her deal including options for multiple films.[10] Johansson then reprised the role in The Avengers (2012),[11][12] Captain America: The Winter Soldier(2014),[13] Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015),[14] Captain America: Civil War (2016),[15][16][17][18] Avengers: Infinity War (2018)[19][20] Captain Marvel (in a brief mid-credits appearance),[21] and in a leading role in Avengers: Endgame (2019).[22][23] After the release of Age of Ultron, Johansson revealed that the number of films on her contract had been adjusted since she first signed to match the "demand of the character", as Marvel had not anticipated the audience's "great reaction" to the character and her performance.[24]In September 2010, while promoting the home media release of Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige indicated interest in producing a solo Black Widow film,[25] and stated that discussions with Johansson had already taken place regarding a Black Widow standalone film, but that Marvel's focus was on 2012's The Avengers.[26]In February 2014, Feige stated that, after exploring Black Widow's past in Age of Ultron, he would like to see it explored further in a solo film, which already had development work done for it,[27][28] including a "pretty in depth" treatment by Nicole Perlman, who co-wrote Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).[29] The following April, Johansson expressed interest in starring in a Black Widow film, and said that it would be driven by demand from the audience.[30] That July, Hayter expressed interest in reviving the project for Marvel,[31] and the following month, director Neil Marshall stated that he "would love to do a Black Widow film," saying he felt the character was "really interesting [given] 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."[32] In April 2015, Johansson spoke more on the possibility of a solo Black Widow film, seeing the potential to explore the different "layers" of her depicted in the different films so far, but also stating that "right now I think this character is used well in this part of the universe".[24] While promoting Captain America: Civil War the next April, Feige noted that due to the announced schedule of films, any potential Black Widow film would be four or five years away.[33] He added that Marvel was "creatively and emotionally" committed to making a Black Widow film eventually.[34]
