Florence Pugh recruited to play Black Widow's 'moral opposite' in solo film

While everyone focused on how the Avengers will fare against Thanos for round two in Avengers: Endgame, the Black Widow solo film has been slowly coming together.

The latest bit of casting news comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which has word that actress Florence Pugh is in talks to co-star opposite star Scarlett Johannson's eponymous super-spy. While specifics about the plot are being kept under lock and key (this is a Marvel movie, after all), it's being reported that Pugh will play a spy who's equal to Natasha Romanoff, and likely to be her "moral opposite."

Pugh also has some experience in the spy genre, as she co-starred in the AMC series Little Drummer Girl. She's currently earning rave reviews for her performance in the wrestling comedy Fighting With My Family, and can be seen next in Ari Aster's Hereditary follow-up, Midsommer, which will hit theaters this August.

As far as Black Widow goes, we do know that the story will focus on Romanoff's early days as both a spy and an assassin who spent her life being groomed by the KGB, before eventually breaking from their grasp and becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and, eventually, a member of the Avengers.

The idea of Pugh playing Romanoff's moral opposite is intriguing, as Black Widow wasn't exactly one of the good guys before the MCU first introduced her in Iron Man 2. While she's always come across as morally flexible, we did get a glimpse of her backstory in Avengers: Age of Ultron, which revealed the rigorous training she endured starting as a young child.

Australian director Cate Shortland will be helming the prequel/spinoff, which is scheduled to begin production in London starting in June.