good space.” She also has par-
ity with her male counterparts
when it comes to pay. Johansson
will earn more than $15 million
for Black Widow, similar to Chris
Evans’ and Chris Hemsworth’s
rates for playing Captain America
and Thor, respectively. “Money
is a taboo topic of conversation,”
she says, when asked about her
salary. “But I will say that, yes, I’m
on an equal playing field with my
male cohorts.”
One of the most emotional
scenes in Avengers: Endgame for
Marvel fans arrives — spoiler
alert! — when Johansson’s char-
acter leaps to her death to save
the world and prevent Jeremy
Renner’s Hawkeye, Black Widow’s
perennial will-they-or-won’t-they
friend-with-chemistry, from
doing so himself. Johansson first
learned Black Widow would die
in Endgame when Marvel Studios
president Kevin Feige called her to
break the news as they were about
to start production on Avengers:
Infinity War. “The finality of it was
sad, but I was excited to die with
honor,” she says of the scene. “It
felt in-character that she would
sacrifice herself, of course for
humanity but actually for her
friends, for the people she loves. It
was bittersweet.”
Black Widow, which is directed
by Cate Shortland (Lore), is a
prequel to Endgame, catching up
with Johansson’s character, KGB
assassin Natasha Romanoff, after
the events of Captain America:
Civil War. Executive producing
the film “is liberating in a way,”
Johansson says. “I feel like I’m in
control of the destiny of this film,
which gives me a lot more peace
of mind,” she continues. “I know
her better than anybody. What
was her childhood like? What
is her relationship to figures
of authority? This character is
gritty and multi-dimensional but
has a lot of trauma and has led
an unexamined life. In order to
operate at this elite level, she has
probably had to push away a lot
of stuff.”
The actress says she doesn’t
know what projects she’ll tackle
“ Scarlett’s persona is, ‘I’m here and I know
who I am. I’m not here to make you like me.’ ”
Laura Dern