Marvel has finally decided on its choice of director to take the helm of the standalone Black Widow movie. Lore director, Cate Shortland takes the helm beating off over 70 filmmakers.

The project, which will have Scarlett Johansson return in the titular role, and Marvel went through months of meetings with a plethora of directors. Shortland finally won the coveted slot which had been shortlisted to Amma Asante (A United Kingdom) and Maggie Betts (Novitiate), Melanie Laurent (Galveston) and Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry).

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.

Also in the news – Julianne Moore in talks to star opposite Amy Adams in The Woman in the Window

Jac Schaeffer was hired back in January to pen the first draft of the film, 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.

Johansson has been a fan of Shortland since becoming familiar with her work on Lore. It is thought that Johansson campaigned for the director to take the helm. Shortland also directed Berlin Syndrome, a 2017 thriller that stars Teresa Palmer.