Candidate for ‘Black Widow’ Director’s Chair Disses Marvel Movies

Lucrecia Martel, an Argentinian filmmaker known for Zama and The Headless Woman, has expressed bit of a disagreement with the studio heads at Marvel regarding creative control and directing of the upcoming Black Widow film.

Martel met with Marvel prior to the studio hiring Cate Shortland as the director of Black Widow, and at the time executives had expressed desire to include more female filmmakers at the head of their projects. They also told her the director of the film would primarily focus on Scarlett Johansson and the character of Black Widow, while other Marvel personnel would “take care of” the action scenes. Martel was appalled by this direct-by-committee approach, as they seemed to believe that a woman could not take care of the actions scenes (which would be directed by men).

While Martel initially expressed interest in directing the film, this experience left a bad taste in her mouth, and Marvel went in a different direction. Martel also criticized the soundtracks for Marvel films and offered a suggestion for toning down the special effects and laser lights. Ultimately, Cate Shortland has been chosen to direct the standalone film; whether or not Marvel allows her to direct the action scenes remains to be seen.