Scarlett Johansson is returning to the superhero world and it’s not the MCU. While we don’t know who Johansson will portray, she’s finally talking about her role in The Batman Part II. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Johansson was asked which role pushed her furthest out of her comfort zone: The Exorcist: Martyrs or The Batman Part II. She exclaimed, “[The Batman] gave me a lot of existential angst for some reason.” She’s unsure why the role was so difficult, but she questions what it was about the character that got to her.
“It was very hard to figure out. I don’t know why, whether it was just the role or was just where I’m in my life, or what’s going on, but it was just hard to crack it. And that’s all I can say about it. It was a tough role in a lot of ways,” she added.
Director Matt Reeves confirmed that Johansson and Sebastian Stan will star opposite each other in the sequel. There’s no confirmation about her character yet, but fans speculate she’ll play Gilda Gold, the wife (or maybe fiancée) of Stan’s Harvey Dent. Comics fans all know that she is far from a hero.
The character first appears in Detective Comics #66 as Gilda Kent. Her most prominent storyline is in Batman: The Long Halloween. In the 1997 miniseries, she’s the original Holiday Killer. Gilda murders members of Gotham City’s mob families on holidays. Sometimes referred to as Grace, she does this to gain Harvey’s attention in hopes of a normal family life.
Johansson definitely fits the role of an anti-hero because of how well she portrays the two sides of Black Widow. There’s no doubt that Johansson could portray a villainous character, and going full into that dark territory could be why she felt like this role was such a challenge.
If Harvey and Gilda appear in the sequel, viewers can expect inspiration from Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory. The Batman Part II hits the big screen in February 2028, six years after the first movie.
