'Black Widow': A chat with the cast ahead of Friday's premiere
PHILADELPHIA -- After more than 10 years, "Black Widow" is finally getting her own standalone origin story.
It's the Marvel blockbuster fans have been waiting for, and a premiere that was delayed 14 months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marvel says it's the film fans have been begging them to make, and one that actress Scarlett Johansson says she's also been waiting to reveal.
It has a ton of girl power with Marvel's first solo female director at the helm of the story that follows Natasha Romanoff's journey to becoming Black Widow.
"You definitely see that Natasha is somebody that has a lot of guilt," Johansson said. "There's a lot stirring inside her that feels unresolved."
Here we meet Natasha's makeshift family and the sister figure who shapes her.
"It's actually through her relationship with Yelena that she's able to really understand what happened to her so that she can move through the process of self-forgiveness," Johansson said.
The emotion is raw, matched only by the action.
"It was honestly the most bizarre way to get to know someone," said Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova. "Genuinely, we had our faces in each other's armpits for about three or four days."
David Harbour plays Alexei Shostakov, their father figure and fallen superhero.
"She's almost a superstar, this Avenger," Harbour said. "And he's just a massive failure."
Rachel Weisz rounds out the family as Melina Vostokoff.
"I think everyone wants to know her origin story and what happened before she was an Avenger," Weisz said.
And that's just where director Cate Shortland goes -- back.
"Rather than just her being this beautiful femme fatale, we wanted the audience to know her as a person," Shortland said. "What battles she goes through, not just as a superhero, but as a human, as well."
"Black Widow" hits theaters and Disney+ this Friday.
