During an interview with Variety, Scarlett Johansson discussed the story possibilities for a Black Widow solo film:
On being offered the role of Black Widow for Iron Man 2: “I knew I wanted to be involved with Marvel and Jon Favreau. I always like Jon Favreau’s stuff. The superhero genre was never a favorite, not that I didn’t like it. I liked all the Tim Burton “Batman” movies, but I wasn’t a big comic book fan growing up. I loved “Iron Man.” It spoke to me. I thought Robert [Downey Jr.]’s work was groundbreaking. It captured my attention as a person that isn’t normally a fan of that genre. It felt like we were making a big movie in a small way, or a small movie in a big way. It was an interesting challenge to be part of.”
On how she got into character: “The physical part of it was something I’d never gotten to experience. That was something that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I never had the opportunity to play a character in a franchise before, and to grow this character as I was growing as an actor. And as the character becomes stronger in many ways, I think she also becomes more vulnerable. Her vulnerability is a strength of hers. I think vulnerability is often seen as a weakness.”
On a Black Widow solo film: “I would like for it to happen under the right circumstances. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to mine that story line. She’s got a really rich origins story. There’s a lot of places you can go — you can bring it back to Russia. You could explore the Widow program. There’s all kinds of stuff that you could do with it. You could really uncover the identity of who this person is, where she comes from and where she’s part of. It’s a possibility. There’s plenty of back story. Or not. It could be something else. Where do the Avengers go? They are underground. What happens then? What happens after it all falls apart? There are so many ways you can go. I think it would just have to be very much like its own specific thing. It would have to have its own specific vibe. It would have been totally different than any of the other standalone films. I think if the fans wanted it enough, then it would probably become a reality.”