Black Widow solo film...but Avengers comes first

[Captain Craig]

Discussions with Scarlett have begun.

"We've already started discussions with Scarlett about the idea of a solo movie and have begun putting together concepts," said Feige in a press conference for the Iron Man 2 Blu-ray/DVD today, "but 'The Avengers' comes first."

Many speculated that this was an obvious way to go. It'd give Marvel studios their first crack at creating a viable female superhero franchise where other attempts, Supergirl, Catwoman & Elektra, failed.

Her brief action sequence in costume at Hammers office was as great as anything else in the movie. Even some of those down on IM:2 as a whole could find that sequence as a bright point for themselves.

Do you like the idea of Mrs.Green Lantern in her own movie?

 

[Captaindemotion]

I posted a link to that story in The Avengers thread, as I was too lazy to start a new one! lol.

Yeah, Scarlett was fine in IM2. A solo movie for Black Widow (or simple Natasha, as she was known in the movie) could work all right. However, the only actresses who seem to be able to carry action movies are Angelina Jolie and Milla Jovovich. Look at the fate of Catwoman, Elektra etc.

The best way to avoid this movie flopping is to have lots of gratutiuous Scarlett nudity. You know I'm right.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Meh, I liked her in The Island but I don't think they should waste time & resources on this.

 

[Saga]

i'd watch it. it would be interesting to see what kind of story they come up with. something with SHIELD and hopefully Fury. a Bond-like super hero movie set in the Marvel Universe would be nice.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Of course, even a Black Widow "solo" movie would probably include Nick Fury (as part of SLJ's 9-pic deal) Hawkeye (an assumption based on Jeffrey Renner's description of his and BW's "partnership" in Avengers) and Agent Coulson. Who knows what other cameos could be thrown in?

 

[Gaith]

It'd give Marvel studios their first crack at creating a viable female superhero franchise where other attempts, Supergirl, Catwoman & Elektra, failed.

And a big reason they failed is because there just wasn't much interpersonal drama. Good vs. evil, ho-hum, show a tight bod, collect the paycheck, call it a day.

the only actresses who seem to be able to carry action movies are Angelina Jolie and Milla Jovovich.

And the only one of their action movies that got any sort of positive critical response was Salt, which earned a tepid 65 on Metacritic.

Do you like the idea of Mrs.Green Lantern in her own movie?

Sure, if there's a compelling emotional side to the movie in addition to the narrative side, with...

lots of gratutiuous Scarlett nudity

No, with a female love interest! (Am I sounding like a broken record on this? Tough!)

 

[davejames]

Yeah, sad to say, but her brief fight scene in IM2 was cooler and more thrilling than anything involving the actual hero. lol

I think most of the appeal comes just from the fact Scarlett doesn't LOOK like she could kick any ass (let alone be a spy), so it's really surprising and unexpected when we finally see her do it.

I find that a lot more interesting to watch than if it was just another tall, athletic-looking girl kicking ass.

 

[Aragorn]

How about Black Widow has to infiltrate... a nudist colony?

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ I'm there!

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Well, if it comes out after The Avengers, then the odds decrease dramatically that it will be little more than set up/ advert for an Avengers movie. That could be good.

 

[captcalhoun]

maybe Black Widow could team up with Mockingbird and Sharon Carter...

there's supposed to be a SHIELD movie coming. this could lead into that...

 

[Captain Craig]

A Bond-like super hero movie set in the Marvel Universe would be nice.

I agree. It would be a superhero movie with a different tone than the other Marvel movies.
Iron Man = inventor/techy
Hulk = scientist
Thor = fantasy
Captain America = soldier
Avengers = world threats
Black Widow = Spy/espionage

Who knows what other cameos could be thrown in?

Could be a good bridge into fleshing out Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier. Give the character some more 'modern day' exposure since most of his scenes are going to be in the 40's but the implied comments from Friege is he'll be in Cap sequels. No reason to not have him in a current day BW film. Especially if they want to tie into the current BW/Bucky relationship.

 

[Too Much Fun]

However, the only actresses who seem to be able to carry action movies are Angelina Jolie and Milla Jovovich.

Are you talking in terms of box office success, or quality? Because I thought "Resident Evil" and "Tomb Raider" were two of the worst movies I've ever seen. Writing, acting, directing, all of it was just pathetically juvenile. Obviously the first was a huge success financially with all the sequels, but in terms of quality I'm sure they're not the finest examples of the potential excellence of an action movie with a female lead.

I don't think we've ever seen one. Adding to C.D.'s examples of Catwoman and Elektra, the only other action movies with female leads I can think of off the top of my head are "Aeon Flux", "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and "Ultraviolet", which were all flops. There was "La Femme Nikita" too, and that was successful, but that was years ago. I would love to see an action movie with a female lead that's actually good. It saddens me that Milla Jovovich wastes her career on those Resident Evil movies because I think she's one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood, but because of my aversion to shitty movies, I haven't been able to watch her in something since "The Fifth Element" (which itself wasn't great, but way better than most of the stuff she's done since).

Black Widow seemed very generic to me in "Iron Man 2". Most of her dialogue was all business, just functional exposition, but I loved her costume and I enjoyed her action sequence, so I was left wanting to see more of her (and I don't mean flesh ). I know Scarlett can be an engaging actress (I love "Lost in Translation"), so I think a Black Widow movie with her in the lead could be really fun, as long as she's able to develop more of a personality than she did in "Iron Man 2" (but with the same costume).

 

[Gaith]

Adding to C.D.'s examples of Catwoman and Elektra, the only other action movies with female leads I can think of off the top of my head are "Aeon Flux", "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and "Ultraviolet", which were all flops. There was "La Femme Nikita" too, and that was successful, but that was years ago.

Also:

Kill Bill
BloodRayne
Cutthroat Island
Underworld
Charlie's Angels 1, 2
Street Fighter: Chun Li
Salt

Not exactly a list full of artistic successes...

 

[Aragorn]

^ To be fair, BloodRayne had no chance of succeeding because it's from Uwe Boll. Theaters who had originally planned to show it actually changed their minds.

 

[Myasishchev]

Do you like the idea of Mrs.Green Lantern in her own movie?

Who's Mrs. Green Lantern? Katma Tui?

No, with a female love interest! (Am I sounding like a broken record on this? Tough!)

Nah. Maybe when they make a Batwoman movie. (Or a Wonder Woman film, but only because it would make too much sense. Not like Time-Warner will ever finally cross that bridge.)

Anyway, for one, N.A. Romanova isn't gay, at least as far as I'm aware. For two, I don't really think that's why films with female action heroes have flopped--they've flopped, when they've flopped, but because they were godawful for other, non-gendered reasons.

And they haven't always flopped--heck, you listed the examples. The difference between Sarah Connor or Beatrix Kiddo and, say, Aeon Flux or Elektra Natchios isn't that Sarah and Beatrix spent half of their respective films munching carpet. The difference is that Aeon Flux and Elektra sucked balls.

What might be interesting is how the ratios stack up: shitty male-lead actioners/good male-lead actioners versus their female-lead counterparts. Because there are tons of shitty male-lead actioners, and I'd be ready to predict the ratio is actually higher for male-lead actioners, simply because the male-lead actioner is the default and unimaginative trash is more apt to run on default mode than a creative, and hence potentially good, movie would be.

Minor note: I assume Elektra sucked balls. I've never seen it. It certainly didn't do well. Honestly, I never cared too much for Natchios in the comics. She always came off as an economical resolution of Frank Miller's twin appreciations for ninjas and women who don't wear a lot of clothing, and in the "end" (at least as far as things end in comics, which they do not) she was a fridge girl for DD. Advantage: Echo?

Edit: oh, and Cutthroat Island doesn't count. That movie operated under a different curse, that is, the inability of films with substantial oceanic content to come in on a reasonable budget (and, sadly, often with any reasonable quality). Broken only by James Cameron with Titanic, but only because he is, in fact, half-Atlantean himself.

 

[Greg Cox]

Adding to C.D.'s examples of Catwoman and Elektra, the only other action movies with female leads I can think of off the top of my head are "Aeon Flux", "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and "Ultraviolet", which were all flops. There was "La Femme Nikita" too, and that was successful, but that was years ago.

Also:

Kill Bill
BloodRayne
Cutthroat Island
Underworld
Charlie's Angels 1, 2
Street Fighter: Chun Li
Salt



Not exactly a list full of artistic successes...

But KILL BILL, UNDERWORLD, RESIDENT EVIL, and the first CHARLIE'S ANGELS were all popular.

Then again, I'm the guy who bought all the book rights to CUTTHROAT ISLAND . . . .

 

[Myasishchev]

$1 bid at the Carolco Pictures bankruptcy auction?

 

[Greg Cox]

$1 bid at the Carolco Pictures bankruptcy auction?

Nah, I published the novelization at Tor (although I shrewdly turned downed the chance to publish a coffee-table book on "The Making of CUTTHROAT ISLAND.")

Funny thing is, I think we actually made money because we sold the translation rights to the Germans and Japanese!

 

[Gaith]

ScarJo's married to Ryan Reynolds, hence Mrs. Green Lantern. And of course Cutthroat Island counts!

for one, N.A. Romanova isn't gay, at least as far as I'm aware.

... The difference between Sarah Connor or Beatrix Kiddo and, say, Aeon Flux or Elektra Natchios isn't that Sarah and Beatrix spent half of their respective films munching carpet. The difference is that Aeon Flux and Elektra sucked balls.

- I don't give a hoot about who's straight or gay in the comics. If you do, that's dandy, but saying "but she's straight in the comics!" doesn't sway me one bit.

- People didn't line up for T2 because of Linda Hamilton, they lined up for the movie's main actor/character... Arnie's Terminator. Hamilton was, at best, a co-lead with Arnie and Furlong.

- But, most importantly, notice that both Connor and Kiddo are mothers estranged from their only children; this provides an emotional heft comparable to that of romance. So if you're going to cite them as a reason Black Widow doesn't need to carpet-munch, you might as well argue for her to be looking after an estranged child while you're at it. And do any of us really want to see that?

But KILL BILL, UNDERWORLD, RESIDENT EVIL, and the first CHARLIE'S ANGELS were all popular.

Surely you're not arguing that popularity and quality are strictly proportional... and I'm not calling you Shirley!

Then again, I'm the guy who bought all the book rights to CUTTHROAT ISLAND . . .

If you'd be cool with sharing the number and year of purchase, I'd be fascinated to know it.