It sounds like Marvel is taking the idea of a "Black Widow" solo movie very seriously.

The studio is at least vetting -- interrogating? -- the directors in a way that super-spy Natasha Romanova (Scarlett Johansson) would appreciate.

Here's what Variety's Justin Kroll revealed:

Wow. That's like one director for each major character in "Avengers; Infinity War." Is that more than usual or par for the course? Marvel Studios should stream the meetings. It would be fascinating to see how they choose directors.

The Hollywood Reporter recently revealed that Marvel Studios "has been looking for a director to break its glass ceiling with 'Black Widow' and has been meeting with filmmakers such as Deniz Gamze Erguven (the Turkish movie 'Mustang'), Chloe Zhao ('The Rider') and Amma Asante ('A United Kingdom'), among several others."

If Variety's reporter is accurate, "several others" is right.

Kathryn Bigelow had to have at least been approached, right? Is she too obvious? It would be interesting to see a Sofia Coppola version of "Black Widow," to be honest. It might not be up Greta Gerwig's alley, but her take would be interesting, too, and bring out Nat's humor. Or Dee Rees? Lynne Ramsay? Patty Jenkins showed with DC's "Wonder Woman" that they don't really need someone with an action or superhero directing background. She was best known for Charlize Theron's "Monster" before "Wonder Woman."

The director doesn't have to be a woman, but there's no reason why it shouldn't be a woman.

Marvel movies bring out different sides in directors -- it's not like Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler had superhero backgrounds before "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Black Panther" -- and the common denominator is the MCU itself steering the ship.

Anyway, the director will be important, but it's the story itself that will be paramount. Will it be a prequel origin story, or an ensemble movie like "Captain America: Civil War," which felt like more of an "Avengers" movie? We're good either way.

Scarlett Johansson has talked about a Black Widow movie potentially being "something really special." The Russo Brothers agree. They directed Johansson in both "Avengers 3" and "Avengers 4," plus the past two "Captain America" movies.

Here's what Joe Russo told the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Comicbook):

"Yeah, we're very happy for that. I mean it's such a rich and interesting character. There's so much to explore with a character whose history was as a villain, and you know, Scarlett does such a good job of playing that character and people are so used to that character that you forget the character's history, and so there's a lot of compelling stories to tell about someone who has a dark past."

In Marvel we trust. If they find the right story, we trust them to tell it well, and leave us wanting even more.

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