Disney may be prepared to handle the financial fallout that will result from Scarlett Johansson's lawsuit over the split release of Black Widow, but will it be able to deal with the other repercussions? It seems that the legal situation has had a significant impact on some key players in the Marvel universe, including Joe and Anthony Russo.
The Russo brothers, who were the masterminds behind Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, were expected to return the franchise for another big project. However, those talks have now hit an "impasse" after the brothers expressed concerns about Disney potentially pulling the same trick that they pulled on Johansson with Black Widow.
According to the Wall Street Journal, sources close to the Russos claimed that the brothers are worried their hypothetical movie will be given a split release just like Black Widow, resulting in lesser take-home pay for them. That said, the major difference between the Russos and Johansson is that they still have much more to offer to the franchise than Johansson, who has pretty much exhausted her Marvel tenure at this point. After all, Johansson's Natasha Romanoff was killed off in Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow served a midquel story that was set before the events of her final film.
Given that the Russos were pivotal in the overall shaping of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's hard to believe that Disney would be okay with losing them. If the Russos decide that they would no longer like to work with Disney, it would be a huge blow to the future of the MCU. The ongoing speculation is that the brothers will be adapting Marvel's Secret Wars, which is a herculean undertaking considering its immense scope.
Not only is the story complex and multiversal, but it also features a mind-blowing amalgamation of superheroes and villains, from the X-Men to the Fantastic Four. If there's anyone who could make it happen, it's the Russos. However, at this point, it's unclear just how turned off they are by Johansson's lawsuit against Disney.
It would make perfect sense for Marvel to eventually move forward with a Secret Wars project, but nothing has been officially confirmed as of yet. So far, the biggest clue we have that indicates Marvel Studios' interest in a Secret Wars movie comes from Jim Shooter, one of the storyline's writers. Shooter recently said that Marvel had approached him to sign a contract to essentially hand over any rights he had to Secret Wars, so it's highly possible that the studio is already gearing up to make a movie happen. Still, it's probably going to take a long while before Marvel Studios gets to producing that film since it is still in the process of establishing the next phase of the MCU.
Black Widow is now playing in theaters and streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: Wall Street Journal