MCU has featured myriads of female superheroes over the years, but no one could captivate the audiences with their screen presence and persona like Scarlett Johanssonโs Black Widow. From her stunning suit to her incredible moves and her iconic landing pose, Johansson became a favorable Avenger for fans.
However, while most people appreciated Scarlett Johanssonโs iconic moves and famous pose as Black Widow, Florence Pugh expressed her disgust. Appearing as Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow, Pugh criticized Johanssonโs trademark landing pose to such an extent that it turned into a joke.
Scarlett Johanssonโs Iconic Pose Didnโt Impress Florence Pugh
Scarlett Johansson debuted in the MCU with her role as the stunning but cutthroat Avenger Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010). She then reprised her character in several other MCU films but had to wait for more than a decade to star in a standalone film. Finally, when MCU came up with Black Widow in 2021, Johansson featured alongside Florence Pugh.
Starring in the role of Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova, Scarlett Johansson, and Florence Pugh rocked the silver screen, respectively. However, while filming the movie, Johansson realized that although she entertained the audiences with her trademark Black Widow landing pose, she failed to impress Pugh with the same.
According to IGN, the Midsommer actress was informed by stunt performers during her raucous conversation, how dangerous and silly the Black Widow trademark pose was. Thereafter, Florence Pugh expressed her disgust for the pose, without hesitation. She even asked Johansson if she was aware of the dangers and later began to โtake the p*ss out of herโ.
Florence Pughโs Disgust for the Pose Turned it Into a Joke
Florence Pughโs conversation with the stunt team about Scarlett Johanssonโs Black Widow pose got passed along to the writers, who then made the required changes to the script. Later on, even Pugh was asked to come up with her own superhero pose, thatโs when she realized her jokes about Black Widowโs trademark landing went too far.
โThe whole, โme taking the p*ss out of Scarlettโs poseโ was because on set, in the stunt rehearsal, the stuntees were like, โWe gotta figure out your pose,โ and I was like, โoh cripes, I have to have a pose,โโฆHonestly, I think Iโve been now so terrified of it being posey after Iโve made such a joke about Natasha being posey that now Iโm like, โoh maybe I should just walk into rooms.โโ
After the Black Widow script got a rewrite, Florence Pughโs character didnโt feature a superhero pose. But instead, she had the opportunity to make fun of Natashaโs iconic landing pose. At one point, in the movie, Yelena Belova accidentally lands herself similarly with one leg outstretched, the opposite hand to the ground, the other arm bent, but she responds with shudders.
This became a recurring bit in the film that established Florence Pughโs character as worthy of taking on the Black Widow mantle. Further, when Pugh appeared in the streaming series Hawkeye, it again included her annoyance with the pose. This eventually turned into an ongoing joke which helped MCU to carry on without fading into dejection.