Scarlett Johansson Proves She’s Bigger Than Black Widow With a Post-Disney Hot Streak

Remember when Scarlett Johansson supposedly peaced out on Disney and that was going to ding her career? Yeah, about that. She has not only been fine without the supersuit, she’s been on a bit of a heater — directing, stacking prestige nods, teaming with A-list auteurs, and now fronting the Jurassic franchise she’s loved since she was a kid.

The post-Marvel run: stacked

A fan account on X, @whatsupscarlett, recently laid out how loaded her post-Endgame years have been, and they were not exaggerating. Highlights:

• Directorial debut: Eleanor the Great, a drama led by June Squibb.
• Two Wes Anderson projects: Asteroid City (2023) and the ensemble adventure The Phoenician Scheme.
• A run of collaborations with award-winning filmmakers beyond Anderson.
• Award-season blitz in 2020: 2 Oscar nominations (Best Actress for Marriage Story, Best Supporting Actress for Jojo Rabbit), 2 BAFTA nominations (same categories/films), 1 Golden Globe nomination (Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for Marriage Story), and 3 SAG nominations (Lead for Marriage Story, Supporting for Jojo Rabbit, plus Cast for Jojo Rabbit) — all in the same year.
• And the big swing: headlining a Jurassic World movie, something she’s wanted for ages.

Johansson finally gets to play with dinosaurs

Johansson has called herself a huge Jurassic nerd — her words. She still remembers seeing Jurassic Park in theaters and describes it as a life-changing, mind-blowing moment. She’s been trying to wedge herself into this series for about a decade, by any means necessary. Her own pitch, as she told ComicBook.com, was not subtle:

I’ve been trying to get into this franchise in any possible way for over 10 years. I’m like, 'I’ll die in the first five minutes! I can get eaten by whatever! I’ll do the craft service!' I’ll do anything for it. The fact that it’s happened in this way at this time just is actually unbelievable. I can’t believe it.

Cut to now: she’s leading Jurassic World: Rebirth. For someone who grew up obsessed with the original, that’s a full-circle, pinch-me moment.

What Disney did for her — and what she did for Disney

Let’s not pretend the Marvel years didn’t matter. As Natasha Romanoff, she anchored seven MCU appearances, including four Avengers movies. Those four alone have cleared north of $7 billion worldwide. It’s the role most people still associate her with, and it helped make her one of the highest-grossing actors ever.

It didn’t end quietly, though. After Disney pushed Black Widow to streaming, Johansson sued over the release terms. The dispute settled quickly for a reported multimillion-dollar sum, which both acknowledged her role in Disney’s box office empire and underlined how messy those early day-and-date deals were.

Bottom line

Post-Disney, Johansson hasn’t missed a beat. She built new lanes (directing), kept the prestige machine humming (those 2020 nominations were a flex), and jumped into the dinosaur sandbox she’s been chasing for years. If this is what life after Black Widow looks like, she doesn’t need the red wig to stay top-tier.