A SOLO film of Black Widow, a project Marvel fans have been wanting for years, is taking a step forward.

Screenwriter Jac Schaeffer has been set to pen a script for the project. The film, which would star Scarlett Johansson as the Marvel hero, is in early development.

Schaeffer wrote the script for the upcoming “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” remake “Nasty Woman” starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, and Hathaway is also attached to star in a film from Schaeffer’s “The Shower.” Schaeffer also wrote and directed the 2009 romantic sci-fi movie “TiMER.”

Johansson first played Natasha Romanoff (aka Black Widow) in 2010’s “Iron Man 2” and has reprised the role in a number of films, including the “Avengers” movies and most recently in 2016’s “Captain America: Civil War.” She is set to appear in “Avengers: Infinity War” in May.

Both Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and Johansson have long said they wanted to make a stand-alone movie centering on the character, a Russian spy-turned-superhero. Marvel will release its first female-toplined movie, Brie Larson’s “Captain Marvel,” in 2019.

(SD-Agencies)