It seems that Joe and Anthony Russo's Captain America: Civil War might as well be called The Avengers Lite. After all, reports have already confirmed that the cast will include Chris Evans' Captain America, Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Anthony Mackie's Falcon, Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier, and the debut of Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther. It turns out that's not all, however, as apparently Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow is scheduled to show up in the movie as well.
This news comes to us directly from Anthony Russo, who recently confirmed Natasha Romanoff's return in Captain America 3 while participating in a press event in Beijing. The Chinese website Sina.com has video of the interview, with the co-director revealing the bit about Scarlett Johansson while discussing exactly what is in store for the next Captain America sequel. He told reporters,
“We’ve been preparing for the movie since the one debuted last year, so we’ve been working on it for a long time now. We’re very happy how it’s coming along. Captain America 3 is gonna be called Captain America: Civil War, and it’s going to star Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson will be back, Winter Soldier will be back, and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man will also be joining us in the next film.”
While it definitely is big news that Black Widow will be featured in Captain America: Civil War, it's also not entirely unsurprising. After all, one of the best aspects of Captain America: The Winter Soldier was the fascinating dynamic that existed between the former Russian spy and the titular patriotic hero, with the former seeing morality as more of a grey area and the latter painting it black and white. It worked so well that it's easy to imagine the folks at Marvel Studios immediately deciding that chemistry needs to return in the upcoming sequel.
Excited as I am by this news - Scarlett Johansson has only gotten better and better at playing Black Widow since her debut in Iron Man 2 - there is a part of me that also kind of wishes that I didn't know she would be back for Captain America 3. After all, her presence in a future Marvel movie basically confirms that she is going to make it out of Joss Whedon's The Avengers: Age of Ultron alive, and that wasn't necessarily guaranteed beforehand. Beyond the spoilers, though, she should definitely have a very interesting part to play in Captain America: Civil War if not just because it will be interesting to see which side she takes, Cap's or Iron Man's.
Joe and Anthony Russo's next Captain America movie is still in pre-production, but it likely won't be long until we start hearing more and more big news about the project. After all, it's set to come out on May 6th next year, meaning that production will have to start up within the next six months. Stay tuned!
