Marvel’s Black Widow offering is starting to take shape as the studio has now obtained the writing services of up and coming scribe Jac Schaeffer.

Although the Scarlet Johannson lead, stand-alone superhero spin-off has yet to be greenlit, it still remains in the very early development stages but with the hiring of the scribe, it shows Marvel and Kevin Feige are keen to get the ball rolling on the project.

Johannson met with Marvel executives to discuss in what direction the character should take and exactly what they would be looking for in a writer. Feige was then tasked to vet a number of writers before finally snapping up the writer.

Black Widow aka Natalia “Natasha” Alianovna Romanova, was introduced as a Russian spy, an antagonist of the superhero Iron Man. She later defected to the United States, becoming an agent of the fictional spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D., and a member of the superhero team the Avengers. Scarlett Johansson portrayed the character in the films Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Captain America: Civil War (2016) as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.

Schaeffer first caught the eye of Anne Hathaway after making her mark with The Shower, a comedy focusing on an Alien invasion. Hathaway subsequently hired the scribe to pen the female-driven Nasty Women, a take on the Michael Caine, Steve Martin lead Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Nasty Women is due for a release later on this year.

Johannson will be seen as Black Widow later this year in the next instalment of the Avengers saga in Avengers: Infinity War.