Marvel’s “Black Widow” is now out in cinemas and with Premier Access on Disney+, the project marking the last outing for actress Scarlett Johansson in the role.
When Johansson signed on for 2010’s “Iron Man 2,” at the time she signed a multiple-film contract like many of the major ‘Phase One’ stars with actors like Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Samuel L. Jackson all signed to six to nine-picture movie deals.
Speaking with THR this week, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed those long-term deals are now a thing of the past with the original ones expired and those who’ve signed up for Marvel films in recent years aren’t anywhere near as locked down:
“That got a lot of attention way back when, with I think Scarlett, and Hemsworth and Evans and Sam Jackson. It varies, project to project, cast to cast. Really, what we want are people that come in, are excited to be in the universe, are excited at the opportunity to do more things, as opposed to being locked into contractual obligations.”
Indeed various actors like Hemsworth and Jackson have stayed on beyond their original contract limit, others like Evans have since bowed out.
Marvel Studios’ executive vice president of film production Victoria Alonso also touched upon the issue of LGBTQ+ representation in their films, something Marvel has been criticised for in the past but received some praise for its handling in the currently airing “Loki”.
Speaking with Variety, Alonso wants to make it clear is that Marvel is “not going to do it [representation] because it’s politically correct or incorrect. It is what it is.”
What you will see is the studio follow the comics and “we try to follow them quite to the tee” which suggests they won’t be changing up any existing character sexualities – rather introducing established LGBTQ+ characters from the comics. She adds:
“We will empower those that are [LGBTQ+]. We’re not changing anything. We’re just showing the world who these people are, who these characters are…There’s a lot that we have coming up that I think will be representative of the world of today. We’re not going to nail it in the first movie or the second movie or third movie, or the first show or second show, but we will do our best to consistently try to represent.”
While “Black Widow” is the big release, much of the Marvel conversation in the past few days has been dominated by praise for Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki and the adorable Alligator Loki in the fifth episode of the “Loki” series. The latter was a CG creation of course, but director Kate Herron has posted a photo of the puppet they used on set for eyelines and the like.
Happy Episode Five “Journey into Mystery” @LokiOfficial day! Here is one the biggest divas and the most demanding actor I’ve ever had to work with, taking a break from his reign of terror to relax in his chair #alligatorloki #loki pic.twitter.com/3WH57yt0Bz
— Kate Herron (@iamkateherron) July 7, 2021
