Scarlett Johansson Settles Black Widow Suit

As Sid Delong noted in his post about the case from August, Ms. Johannson's litigation strategy was unusual and a bit mysterious.  She sued Disney for tortiously interfering with her contractual relations with Marvel, a Disney subsidiary, without suing Marvel for breach of contract.  The case was catnip for law profs interested in contracts, torts, remedies, the Marvel movies, and Ms. Johansson.

Alas, as is so often the case, Ms. Johansson settled her claims against Disney.  The details of the settlement have not been made public.  However,  in separate statements, the parties seem to have decided to kiss and make up.      

As reported on the BBC, Disney's content chairman said of Ms. Johansson, "We appreciate her contributions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and look forward to working together on a number of upcoming projects," and he proceeded to plug a forthcoming movie.  Even though the report is on the BBC, let's not forget that Disney owns ABC, so it never forgets to Always Be Celling.  

For her part, Ms. Johansson, whose Black widow character is a Russian assassin turned Avenger, said "I'm incredibly proud of the work we've done together over the years and have greatly enjoyed my creative relationship with the team."  More of a whimper than a bang.

Will the actor be haunted for sucking up so shamelessly in order to move on with her career, just as the Natasha Alianova character (the Black Widow) is haunted by the fact that in her attempt to assassinate General Dreykov, she gravely injured his daughter, Antonia Dreykov (Taskmaster)?  We're just asking questions here.