Scarlett Johansson’s tenure as 'Black Widow' ending, handing the baton to Florence Pugh

Actress Scarlett Johansson has found the perfect successor in her 'Black Widow' costar Florence Pugh.

"We didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great,” Shortland, 51, told a magazine of the Marvel newbie on Monday.Scarlett Johansson

 "Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female story line."

Pugh, 24, joins Johansson, 35, in the upcoming standalone film for the longtime Avengers favorite, Black Widow. The Little Women star will portray Yelena Belova, a sister figure for Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. 

Both the women were trained to be the ultimate government operatives, and after finding herself on her own in the wake of Captain America: Civil War, Romanoff is forced to confront her past and return to the place that made her who she is today.

 A long-standing rumor surrounding the upcoming Marvel movie “Black Widow” is that the action tentpole sets up Florence Pugh’s character Yelena Belova as a new superhero that will appear in future Marvel films now that Scarlett Johansson’s tenure as Black Widow is ending.

Shortland said that while her “Black Widow” film is a swan song for Johansson, it’s also a launching pad for Pugh in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.