Scarlett Johansson is one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood. She has starred in countless movies throughout her incredibly-successful career and has earned awards recognition for her performances. But she is perhaps best known for portraying the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Johansson was a regular of the MCU movies between 2010 and 2021, popping up on screen alongside the likes of Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, Chris Evans' Captain America, and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes. Although she departed the franchise with her own Black Widow solo movie a few years ago, she is still defending the iconic movie series.
That includes from the Oscars itself as she has called the Academy out for snubbing the record-breaking phenomenon that was Avengers: Endgame.
Scarlett Johansson says Avengers: Endgame deserved an Oscar nomination
Scarlett Johansson is fighting for the recognition of Marvel movies at awards ceremonies. Speaking to Vanity Fair ahead of her directorial debut in Eleanor The Great and return to the action hero world in Jurassic World Rebirth, she reflected on her time with Marvel Studios, particularly Avengers: Endgame, which saw the death of her character Black Widow.
She simply asked the right question, opening with "How did this film not get nominated for an Oscar?", adding:
"It was an impossible movie that should not have worked, that really works as a film — and also, it’s one of the most successful films of all time."
She's right, too, for Avengers: Endgame broke box office records around the world to become the highest-grossing movie of all time in 2019, unseating James Cameron's Avatar as the champion after a decade-long reign. Although Avatar would subsequently reclaim that throne after a rerelease, the feat that Endgame accomplished was an incredible one.
But its success goes far beyond its box-office takings. The film was the culmination of a 22-film story, designed to not only complete that story but to pick up from where the previous Avengers movie left off and pay tribute to each of the films that led to this moment. It was littered with Easter Eggs and references to the earlier Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Avengers movies, giving fans a real emotional rollercoaster of a journey before the Avengers before the heroes battled Thanos to conclude the Infinity Saga once and for all.
No pun intended, but it was true Marvel of moviemaking, featuring one of the biggest casts in movie history and wrapping things up with a battle that has already gone down in history as one of the greatest to ever grace the silver screen. All you have to do is watch the countless audience reactions to the final battle: The moment that Cap wielded Thor's hammer, the Portals sequence when the Avengers return, the "Avengers Assemble" moment; it's all truly magical.
Awards ceremonies have long had a bias against superhero and comic book movies when it comes to the major awards, but very rarely one or two breaks through. Marvel Studios' own Black Panther was one of them, earning itself a Best Picture nomination in 2019. Although it ultimately didn't win, it was a huge moment for the franchise - and many largely believe that Avengers: Endgame should have come after it with its own nomination. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.
Endgame was the film that infamously killed off Natasha Romanoff, but Johansson did return two years later for prequel movie Black Widow, which served as a send-off to her character and introduced us to her sister Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh). The star is set to return to produce a series for Marvel in the near-future, but she has officially ruled out returning as Black Widow in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars movies, saying that although she misses her Marvel co-stars, she won't mess with the character's perfect ending.