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Scarlett Johansson returns to SNL two years after spoofing superhero sexism

    by Michael Cavna, Washington Post
    Published 

Two years ago, as her Avengers: Age of Ultron was topping the box office, Scarlett Johansson took advantage of her hosting gig on Saturday Night Live to spoof sexism in superhero cinema. Now, as Johansson returns to SNL this weekend, has her comedy bit had reason to lose any of its satirical bite?

The digital short, a trailer for the faux Black Widow film Age of Me, skewered the fact that while most of her fellow front-line Avengers had received solo film outings, Marvel had never greenlit a stand-alone movie for Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff. Just what would it take for the Hollywood suits to slate such a project?

The answer, according to SNL's writers, was a film that had all the familiar trappings of a rom-com.

In the mock trailer, which drew nearly 15 million views on the show's YouTube channel, the question is posed in standard Testosterone-Fueled Trailer Voice: "Does Marvel not know how to make a girl superhero movie?"

Then comes the ironic response: "Chill. Marvel gets women."

Yes, just marvel at the tropes: This Black Widow film involves meet-cute moments with Ultron and the Hulk, as well as an internship at Fashion Weekly. It's as if Hollywood could only make a solo Catwoman film for Anne Hathaway, say, if the film were also a mashup with her Devil Wears Prada character. (Cue voice-over: "The only thing missing in Black Widow's life . . . was love.")

The fuller context for the SNL short was that just days earlier, such outlets as IndieWire reported — in the wake of the infamous Sony hack — on a leaked email exchange between Marvel Entertainment chief executive Ike Perlmutter and Sony CEO Michael Lynton. In that exchange, Perlmutter outlined why "female movies" based on superheroic women did not work and were, in some cases he cited, "a disaster."

By the end of that summer, however, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was able to win creative emancipation from Perlmutter amid a reorganization, according to news broken by the Hollywood Reporter.

So, nearly two years later, have things changed for Black Widow specifically, and superhero women in general?

Well, Johansson is on board Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War, set to be released next year. And last year, she had a prominent role in Marvel's Captain America: Civil War.

Yet amid Marvel's Phase 3 of its cinematic universe, there's still no Black Widow solo film on the books. Instead, Captain Marvel will beat her to the punch. The Oscar-winning Brie Larson will play Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel, due out in March of 2019.

Meanwhile, Johansson isn't waiting around on Marvel so she can star in comic book-based action films. Her Ghost in the Shell opens March 31.

Meanwhile — thanks in part to Perlmutter's years of executive knuckle-dragging — Warner Bros./DC will get the drop on Marvel Studios with Patty Jenkins' "Wonder Woman," due out June 2.

Verdict: SNL could rebroadcast its Age of Me trailer this weekend and little of its relevant sting would be lost.

Saturday Light Live, featuring Scarlett Johansson as host, airs Saturday at 11:29 p.m. on NBC.