Scarlett Johansson is finally getting a standalone movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after 11 years with the upcoming release of “Black Widow.” The Oscar nominee made her MCU debut in “Iron Man 2,” and she recently told Collider that Black Widow was “so sexualized” and treated “like a possession” in her early MCU appearance.
“It definitely has changed and I think part of that change has probably — it’s hard because I’m inside it, but probably a lot of that is actually from me too,” Johansson said when asked about the sexualization of Black Widow.
Johansson added, “All of that is related to that move away from the kind of hyper-sexualization of this character and, I mean, you look back at ‘Iron Man 2’ and while it was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualized, you know? Really talked about like she’s a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever — like a piece of ass, really.
What Johansson is referring to is a scene in “Iron Man 2” where Tony Stark meets Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff.
Now people, young girls, are getting a much more positive message, but it’s been incredible to be a part of that shift and be able to come out the other side and be a part of that old story, but also progress.