WandaVision star Elizabeth Olsen has voiced her support for Scarlett Johansson amidst the Black Widow lawsuit. Johansson recently filed a lawsuit against Disney, alleging that they breached her Black Widow contract by releasing the film simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+. The lawsuit alleges that Johansson lost out on an estimated $50 million in box-office bonuses due to the film's hybrid release and that Disney failed to renegotiate Johansson's contract to reflect the new release plan. Black Widow has currently grossed $125 million on Disney+ and $500 million worldwide.

Johansson's lawsuit has elicited a slew of mixed reactions. Disney initially responded to the lawsuit by criticizing Johansson for not being considerate enough about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One Disney lawyer even claimed that Johansson's lawsuit is nothing more than an orchestrated PR campaign. Despite Disney's negative reaction to the lawsuit, many prominent figures in Hollywood have voiced their support for Johansson, including Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, the president of SAG-AFTRA Gabrielle Carteris, Blumhouse founder Jason Blum, and Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune. 

Related: Why Scarlett Johansson's Lawsuit Hurts Disney More Than It Does The MCU

During a recent joint interview with Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis for Vanity Fair, Olsen shared some insight on her thoughts about the state of movie releases during the pandemic and Johansson's lawsuit. Olsen's insightful answer included support for Johansson and her fears for films that might not be Hollywood blockbusters getting seen. Check out Olsen's thoughts on the entire matter below.

Olsen: "I’m worried about a bunch of things. Not worried on Scarlett’s behalf. But I’m worried about small movies getting the opportunity to be seen in theaters. That was already a thing pre-COVID. I like going to the movies and I don’t necessarily want to see only an Oscar contender or a blockbuster. I would like to see art films and art house theaters. And so I do worry about that, and people having to keep these theaters alive. And I don’t know how financially that works for these theaters. I do hope that there’s some sort of solution that the larger companies are coming together to keep, at least in L.A. this is going to happen. But I do think it’s going to be how it kind of used to be when studios owned theaters. And I have a feeling that we might go back to that being the only way to keep them alive with such expensive real estate. But when it comes to actors and their earnings, I mean, that’s just, that’s just all contracts. So it’s either in the contract or it’s not. What about you? Are you worried about Scarlett?

Sudeikis: Of course. How could I not? She’s married to my comedy brother [SNL’s Colin Jost].

Olsen: I think she’s so tough and literally when I read that I was like, “good for you Scarlett.”

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It's great to see Olsen voice her support for Johansson. The two women have, after all, co-starred in several MCU movies together. It's quite unfortunate how Disney has responded to Johansson's lawsuit because Johansson was the MCU's first female Avenger. Her nuanced portrayal of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow truly paved the way for other female Avengers, including Olsen as the Scarlet Witch. Johansson has also been playing Black Widow since 2010's Iron Man 2, so many had been hoping to get a Black Widow solo outing long before her character was killed off in 2019's Avengers: Endgame.

Hopefully, Disney and Johansson can settle the Black Widow lawsuit respectfully. This entire matter could set a positive or negative precedent for how stars get paid for future hybrid releases. All in all, Johansson has been a valued part of the MCU almost since the beginning, and she deserves to gets paid for what she's properly due. That being said, with Disney and Johansson's legal teams standing firm, it could be quite a while until everything is sorted out.

Next: What Scarlett Johansson's Lawsuit Means For Disney, Marvel & Hollywood/Streaming

Source: Vanity Fair

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