Before Marvel, Scarlett Johansson Starred in This Superhero Movie and She Hated the Costume

A characteristic that makes superheroes emblematic is the suit they wear to face battles, although no matter how much it represents them, it does not mean that the cast underneath the costume is very happy with the costumes.

A few years before seeing Scarlett Johansson in her unforgettable role as Black Widow in Iron Man 2, the actress was part of another film that adapted the story of a group of superheroes from comics to the big screen. Before looking out for the good of humanity alongside The Avengers, Johannsson took on the role of villain Silken Floss in 2008’s The Spirit.

Under the direction of Frank Miller, the film adapted the comic strip of the same name about a masked detective who protects the inhabitants of Central City from crime. The protagonist Danny Colt, played by Gabriel Macht, has as his main enemies Octopus, played by Samuel L. Jackson, and his right-hand man Silken Floss, Scarlett Johansson’s character, who had to wear a Nazi uniform for the film.

During filming, the costumes made the Jojo Rabbit actress feel extremely uncomfortable due to her Jewish roots and religion. The film has a neo-noir style so the outfits are detective type, with trench coats, side hats and dark colors. However, as Johansson mentioned for the Australian site Dark Horizons in 2008, the origin of her discomfort was located in an accessory of her character:

I never thought I’d wear a swastika bracelet. It was completely strange putting on the uniform for the first time. I thought, ‘My grandfather is rolling in his grave.’

Although she had to deal with the discomfort of the outfit due to her beliefs and the entire history that the Nazi symbol carries, the Asteroid City famed actress managed to accept this trait as an additional expression of her character’s visual style in the film. The cast of The Spirit was completed with personalities such as Eva Mendes, Jaime King, Sarah Paulson and many others.

Unfortunately, this adaptation of the graphic novel created by Will Eisner did not have a very good reception from critics or the public because after having an estimated budget of 60 million dollars, it managed to gross only 39 million at the global box office. In any case, the film that you can rent through Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV+ marked one more step to nourish the fruitful career of Scarlett Johansson who, in addition to being a recognized actress, is venturing into directing her first feature film De ella Eleonor the Great.