It seems like Marvel Studios is finally leaning into the power of its female superheroes. After years of fans begging for a stand-alone film about the badass Avenger Black Widow, the project officially has a director and, of course, a star. Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff in the upcoming, still-untitled Black Widow movie. But in even better news, she'll make the same as her male costars do, which is a win all around.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Johansson will reportedly earn $15 million for her solo turn as the superhero spy. This is the same pay rate that franchise stars Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth nabbed for playing Captain America and Thor, respectively, in Avengers: Infinity War, which was Johansson's sixth time playing Black Widow. The outlet reports that Evans and Hemsworth received the same pay for their most recent solo films, as well as the upcoming fourth Avengers movie.
Historically, Marvel doesn't offer huge pay rates for its first solo title films, although admittedly, Johansson is in a unique position. She first appeared as Black Widow in Iron Man 2 in 2010 and has since kept up with the boys in The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. She will also be in the fourth Avengers film. Since she has played the character for nearly a decade, it's about time that she makes the same pay as her male costars.
Johansson isn't the only woman heading an upcoming Marvel film. The Hollywood Reporter notes that Brie Larson, the titular star of 2019's Captain Marvel, reportedly received $5 million for the film and signed a seven-film contract with Marvel Studios. She tweeted on Oct. 11, "Counterpoint: this is not true," but we're not sure if she's talking about the pay or the multi-film deal because the tweet she quoted has since been deleted.
A Marvel spokesperson also responded to THR's story: "Marvel Studios disputes the accuracy of these numbers, and as a matter of policy, we never publicly disclose salaries or deal terms."
Regardless of Marvel's attempts to keep Johansson's pay under wraps, we think she deserves to at least be making the same as her costars, since she's clearly putting in the same amount of work.