Allegedly, a clause was added to Johansson’s contract in 2019, the year Disney+ launched, prohibiting Marvel Studios — and their parent company, Disney — from releasing the Avengers franchise prequel film, which takes place between Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018), on a streaming service simultaneously with its theatrical release.
As we all know, though, that’s exactly what happened. Following over a year of delays due to the unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic, Black Widow — the first movie in the Kevin Feige-led studio’s Phase 4 — released both in theaters and on the $29.99 Disney+ Premier Access tier on July 9, 2021.
The film opened to an $80 million box office weekend but suffered a “stunning crash” — the worst the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever seen — in its second weekend in theaters. Presumably, this is what led to Johansson’s lawsuit, as she and her legal team allege that much of her pay was tied to box office performance.
Now, Marvel fans and Disney fans are unsurprisingly beginning to voice their opinions, too. And, some are comparing Johansson to actor Johnny Depp, who was fired from his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise following his legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard (Aquaman, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom).
Depp lost his libel lawsuit against U.K. News Group Newspaper publication, The Sun, in London last fall, after vehemently denying domestic violence allegations that Heard made in the tabloid, including the fact that Depp allegedly held her “hostage” in Australia during a Pirates of the Caribbean shoot.
In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller “Black Widow,” Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down [Taskmaster and Dreykov (Ray Winstone)], Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha/Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour portrays Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz is Melina. “Black Widow” — the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — is directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige.
Furthermore, fans of the Warner Bros. Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts series are boycotting the studio — which fired Depp from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in favor of Mads Mikkelsen — unless Amber Heard is also fired from Aquaman 2, officially titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Heard is currently filming the sequel movie alongside leading man Jason Momoa.
At this time, it seems unlikely that Depp will return to Pirates of the Caribbean for the sixth time, particularly given that he recently lost his right to appeal the outcome of his original libel lawsuit in the U.K. High Court.
In regard to the former couple’s $50 million civil suit in the U.S., Mr. Depp and Ms. Heard are set to next meet in court in April 2022 in Fairfax, Virginia.
What do you think? Is Scarlett Johansson the next Johnny Depp in Disney’s eyes?
6
Credit: Marvel Studios/Disney
