Scarlett Johansson and her Marvel character. Credit :

Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty; Marvel Enterprises/Kobal/Shutterstock

• Scarlett Johansson told Deadline in an interview at the Cannes Film Festival that directing a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie “would be fun”
• Johansson, who starred in eight MCU movies between 2010 and 2021, just premiered her directorial debut Eleanor the Great at the Cannes Film Festival
• “I think the movies that I like that are big action movies also have the human connectivity piece,” the actress-turned-director said

Scarlett Johansson just premiered her first movie as a director at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival — so, what’s next for her work behind the camera?

When Johansson, 40, sat down with Deadline for an interview in Cannes, France, on Thursday, May 22, the actress-turned-director said she would be open to potentially directing a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie when asked if she would consider directing a major action movie or Marvel film.

“I think the movies that I like that are big action movies also have the human connectivity piece,” Johansson, who notably portrayed the MCU character Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in eight MCU movies between 2010’s Iron Man 2 and 2021’s Black Widow, told the outlet.

“Even producing Black Widow and being a part of the production of that, and the development of the story, and the story between Natasha and Yelena… [there is] I think, a way of doing it, a way of maintaining the integrity of the idea of human connection, family, disappointment, all of the things that were themes in [Eleanor the Great],” Johansson added. “Doing it in a giant way in a giant universe — there’s ways of doing that… So, yeah, definitely, it could be, it would be fun.”

Scarlett Johansson in ‘Black Widow’. Francois Duhamel/Marvel

Johansson was in Cannes this week with her directorial debut Eleanor the Great, which stars June Squibb, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Jessica Hecht. The movie “brings to vivid life the witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein who, after a devastating loss, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own,” reads an official Cannes synopsis for the film, which described the movie as “a comically poignant exploration of how the stories we hear become the stories we tell.”

Any future work Johansson may do with Disney and Marvel Studios would come years after Johansson settled a lawsuit she filed against Disney in 2021, over her compensation for Black Widow. At the time, she accused the company of breaching her contract for Black Widow when it released the Disney+ streaming service at the same time that it was released in movie theaters, claiming that her contract guaranteed the movie an exclusive theater release and that the bulk of her salary depended on its box office performance. When Johansson and Disney settled the lawsuit, she said in a statement that she looked “forward to continuing [her collaboration with Disney] in years to come.” 

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Scarlett Johansson in ‘Black Widow’. Disney/THA/Shutterstock

According to Variety, Johansson’s Eleanor the Great received a five-minute standing ovation after its Cannes premiere, which she attended with her husband Colin Jost. Johansson said bringing the film to Cannes “really is a dream come true” at the screening.

“Thank you for having us, we are so honored to be here,” she added. “You know, when you make a film that’s an independent film like this, no one’s doing it for the money — surprise, surprise. Everybody that came together for this film came together because they loved the story, they loved the script so much.”