Scarlett Johansson criticized how her Black Widow character was sexualized in the beginning. The actress will reprise her role for the last time in Marvel‘s Black Widow, the movie.
Yes, we can agree from the start that Scarlett Johansson is both ultra gorgeous and super talented. But the actress has had quite a journey with her Black Widow character.
It’s safe to say it’s not a spoiler that Black Widow won’t return to the MCU after what happened to Natasha Romanoff in the Avenges: Endgame.
But her own movie is long overdue. Because of the pandemic, Black Widow has been postponed to 2021, and will hit theaters next month.
In a new interview with Collider, Scarlett Johansson criticized how sexualized her Black Widow character was in Iron Man 2, where she first made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut.
Over the years, Natasha grew up to be a beloved character in the franchise. But, at the beginning, people noticed her more for how she looked.
Scarlett shared: “While [the film] was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualized, you know? [She is] really talked about like she’s a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever – like a piece of ass, really.”
“Maybe at that time that actually felt like a compliment. You know what I mean? Because my thinking was different… My own self-worth was probably measured against that type of comment [but], like a lot of young women, you come into your own and you understand your own self-worth.”
But there’s a bright side in all of this. “It’s changing now. Now people, young girls, are getting a much more positive message. But it’s been incredible to be a part of that shift and be able to come out the other side and be a part of that old story, but also progress. Evolve. I think it’s pretty cool.”
“It definitely has changed and I think part of that change… is actually from me too. I’m a mom and my life is different.”
Scarlett shares daughter Rose Dorothy, 6, with ex-husband Romain Dauriac.
Scarlett added: “Obviously, 10 years have passed and things have happened and I have a much different, more evolved understanding of myself. As a woman, I’m in a different place in my life, you know? I’m more accepting of myself, I think.”
She concluded: “This movie would have been so different if we’d made it 10 years ago. It was a different time. I think we can all agree on that. A lot of people ask me why we didn’t do it before now, but in some ways – I’m sure there’s a lot of reasons for that – in some ways I’m actually very thankful that it’s happening now because we can actually make a movie that’s about real stuff and audiences want that.”
Scarlett recently spoke against Hollywood Foreign Press Association. She accused them of “sexists remarks.”
Black Widow opens in theaters July 9.
