Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow became one of the Avengers’ most familiar faces.
What happened to Scarlett Johansson after that chapter? She continued acting in major films and made her feature directing debut. Her career now includes Jurassic World Rebirth, Eleanor the Great and James Gray’s Paper Tiger.
As of November 4, 2026, Paper Tiger has played the New York Film Festival and is approaching its reported November 13 U.S. theatrical opening. Johansson also leads Mike Flanagan’s upcoming The Exorcist: Martyrs. Leaving a signature role has widened the range of work on her calendar.
Her career was established before Black Widow
Johansson was already widely recognized before joining Marvel.
Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, released in 2003, paired her with Bill Murray as two Americans finding an unexpected connection in Tokyo. Focus Features’ retrospective identifies the film as a key moment for its stars and director.
Its quiet conversations required a very different performance from the action work that later made Johansson a global franchise star.
That range remained visible during her Marvel years. At the 2020 Oscars, she received two acting nominations: lead actress for Marriage Story and supporting actress for Jojo Rabbit.
The Academy’s nominations announcement confirms both. In the same awards season, Laura Dern won for Marriage Story, placing Johansson’s dramatic work alongside one of her co-star’s major career moments.
Those films were not a reinvention that began after Marvel. They were part of a career already operating in several different lanes.
She has described Natasha’s story as complete
Johansson first played Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2 in 2010. The character’s story reached a major ending in Avengers: Endgame, followed by the earlier-set solo film Black Widow in 2021.
Questions about another appearance continued afterward.
In a 2025 interview with Vanity Fair, reported by Variety, Johansson explained why she did not want to undo the character’s ending.
“What works about the character is that her story is complete,” she said.
That is the clearest way to understand her position at the time. She was discussing the shape of Natasha’s story, rather than announcing a departure from acting.
The distinction is useful because franchise casting can dominate coverage of an actor. A missing name on the next superhero poster does not tell us what that person is making elsewhere.
Jurassic World Rebirth kept her in large-scale filmmaking
Johansson’s next major franchise role arrived in Jurassic World Rebirth in 2025.
Directed by Gareth Edwards, the film stars Johansson alongside Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey. Its mission sends a team to an island research facility to collect dinosaur DNA.
Universal’s film page confirms the cast, director and premise. The movie is available for home viewing, so it belongs among her released work rather than future plans.
This was a continuation of her action career with a new set of characters and dangers.
It also makes clear that completing Black Widow’s story did not mean rejecting big studio productions. Johansson could take on another large adventure while pursuing a much smaller film of her own.
The scale of those two projects was strikingly different. One involved an established dinosaur franchise; the other centered on an elderly woman coping badly with loss.
Eleanor the Great moved her behind the camera
That smaller project was Eleanor the Great, Johansson’s feature directing debut.
June Squibb plays Eleanor Morgenstein, a woman rebuilding her life after her best friend’s death. A story she tells begins to cause consequences she cannot easily control.
Tory Kamen wrote the screenplay. The cast also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jessica Hecht and Erin Kellyman.
The film premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in May 2025. Sony Pictures Classics announced its September 26, 2025 release in the United States and Canada.
Directing changed Johansson’s responsibility within a production. Instead of being primarily the person performing a scene, she was responsible for shaping the performances and the film around them.
It is also a different kind of story from the ones most closely associated with her commercial success. The central character is an older woman, and the drama grows from friendship, grief and deception.
Paper Tiger brought her back together with Adam Driver
Johansson’s 2026 work includes Paper Tiger, which opened the New York Film Festival on September 25.
Film at Lincoln Center’s program identifies the film as James Gray’s thriller set in 1986 New York. Miles Teller plays Irwin, whose brother Gary, played by Adam Driver, draws him into a dangerous criminal scheme.
Johansson plays Irwin’s wife, Hester. It reunites her with Driver after Marriage Story, although they occupy different relationships within this film.
Parade’s coverage of the premiere reports a November 13 theatrical opening. That date is still ahead as of this article’s publication.
The festival screening and the theatrical release are separate events. Audiences outside the festival have not necessarily had their chance to see it yet.
Her next horror film is scheduled for 2027
Johansson also stars in The Exorcist: Martyrs, directed by Mike Flanagan.
Morgan Creek’s October 2026 update confirms the trailer reveal and Johansson’s leading role. Universal currently lists the film for March 12, 2027.
It adds another genre to a period already filled with action, family drama and directing.
The more meaningful change in Johansson’s career is not simply the move from one franchise to another. She is now making choices on both sides of the camera.
Black Widow helped make her instantly recognizable. Eleanor the Great asked audiences to pay attention to a film she shaped while someone else occupied the center of the screen.