The first draft of the screenplay for Black Widow was completed in just 11 days. MCU fans have been waiting for a solo Natasha Romanoff film for years after the character was first introduced in Iron Man 2. Since then, Black Widow has been a mainstay of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Johansson appearing as the character in seven Marvel films in a leading capacity as the high-powered assassin. This all culminated in her tragic death in the climax of the Infinity Saga, Avengers: Endgame. Despite this death, though, there's still plenty of story to tell.

Black Widow will explore Natasha's past via the events that took place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Set adrift by the disbandment of the Avengers in Civil War, Natasha seeks out the family from her past in hopes of settling some scores. This will lead her and her sister figure Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) to confront Taskmaster and his takeover of the Red Room, the place where both were trained to be assassins. Natasha's past will also influence the future of the MCU as she is set to pass down the mantle of Black Widow to Yelena, who will appear in this year's Hawkeye.

Related: Why Black Widow Is Actually The Most Moral Avenger

How all of this ties together will be revealed this Friday when Black Widow finally hits theaters, but the wait to see the film has been much longer than the writing process was. Screenwriter Eric Pearson revealed to Variety that the initial draft of Black Widow took only 11 days to write. The scribe says that he spent time cracking the script with Marvel head Kevin Feige, Johansson, producer Brian Chapek, and director Cate Shortland. Once Pearson had what he calls the "blueprint," the screenwriter reveals that there were plenty of rewrites before the final product was actually shot.

We got our good bones down meeting with Kevin [Feige] and [co-producer] Brian Chapek and [director] Cate Shortland and talking to Scarlett [Johansson] a lot. She was phoning in and then I was locking it into a document that was just like a blueprint. And once I know what I’m doing, I write fast. …That was the first draft, but we did a lot of rewrites.

Scarlett Johansson Black Widow Rooftop Chase

That it took so little time to crack the script for Black Widow isn't all that surprising. Not only does Marvel lay out their plans for the future of the franchise years in advance, but Pearson also had years of material to pull from when it came to the character of Natasha Romanoff. Thanks to constant hints at her mysterious past as well as her years spent working with the Avengers, the groundwork for the character had already been laid well in advance.

Still, there are also some downsides to completing a script so fast. Early reviews for Black Widow indicate that the story at the center of the film contains some weak spots, mainly in its division of time between Natasha and Yelena. The film pulls double duty as an origin story for the future Black Widow and the final goodbye to the MCU's original one. Ultimately, though, that will be up to the interpretation of the audience and no matter how Black Widow shakes out, the fact that longtime fans will be getting a proper goodbye to the character of Natasha Romanoff is good enough.

More: Black Widow Review: New Character Overshadows Nat's Long-Awaited Solo Film

Source: Variety

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