Black Widow has Bigger Role in 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'; Solo Film in the Works

Even before Scarlett Johansson first appeared as the stealthy Black Widow in Iron Man 2, talk had already begun about her getting a solo spinoff. She's since become an integral part of Marvel's universe, starring in The Avengers and soon she'll be joining Chris Evans for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And after that it'll be another all-star jam in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which Marvel Studios prez Kevin Feige says will feature a greatly expanded role for Johansson and is leading to a solo film. Feige tells Total Film...

"We start filming the next Avengers film at the end of March. [Black] Widow's part in that is very big. We learn more about her past and learn more about where she came from and how she became in that film. The notion of exploring that even further in her own film would be great, and we have some development work with that." 

Her past as a Russian spy and potential history with villain the Winter Soldier will first be explored in the Captain America sequel. Chris Evans says it will go in depth on some of the terrible things she may have had to do in the past...

"Black Widow's whole arc [in The Winter Soldier] is coming to terms with her history - that she's been a spy, and spies aren't necessarily trustworthy." 

Feige adds that the goal for Captain America 2 is to go bigger than ever before and change the way we look at the Marvel cinematic universe...

"We wanted to change the dynamic of the cinematic universe with this film. We wanted Cap and really the entire cinematic universe to be very different at the end of 'Winter Soldier' than it is at the beginning. Therefore, when we meet the Avengers at the top of 'Age of Ultron,' it's a very different landscape than we left them at the end of the first film. Partially that's because we love the rhythm that the comic books have developed. Each of the characters appear in their runs, occasionally they get together for a big event or crossover series, they part again, and then they come back together again." 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens April 4th 2014, followed by Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1st 2015.