Black Widow movie: Scarlett Johansson Marvel film teased by Kevin Feige

Marvelites will get to see female heroes headline their own films with the upcoming Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel, but some are still clamoring for a Black Widow movie. With everything from Doctor Strange to Avengers: Infinity War staked out through 2019 and a few untitled release dates set beyond that, Marvel now says they are “creatively and emotionally” committed to Natasha Romanoff.

In response to a question about which character is destined to get a solo film in the future, Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige told Deadline, “We’ve announced the next nine movies, 10 counting Civil War, through the end of 2019. Where we go beyond that are ongoing discussions that we’ll focus on in the next few years because we have a lot to do before then. Of the characters that you’ve just mentioned I would say certainly the one creatively and emotionally that we are most committing to doing is Black Widow.”

He continued, “We think she’s an amazing character. We think Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of her is amazing. She’s a lead Avenger and has amazing stories in her own right to tell that we think would be fun to turn into a stand-alone franchise.”

Captain America: Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo also expressed their interest in seeing a solo film for Natasha Romanoff. “We find that the character is one of the richest, if not the richest, character in the Marvel universe,” Joe said earlier this year. “She’s a very complex character. She’s haunted by demons and her understanding of the world is fascinating. I think there is a lot that can be done with that character.”

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Talk of a spin-off took off as far back as 2010 when Feige said Marvel “started discussions” with Johansson about the possibility. In 2014, he said, “we have some development work with that.” Johansson’s global box office clout certainly isn’t in question — case in point the success of her 2014 hit Lucy, which made more than $463 million worldwide.

Regardless, Natasha has a role to play in Civil War, now playing in theaters.