The actor expressed support for Johansson’s legal action against the studio for releasing Black Widow on Disney+ at the same time as in cinemas

Elizabeth Olsen has come out in support of her fellow Marvel star Scarlett Johansson in the latter’s ongoing tussle with Disney over the hybrid release — both theatrical and streaming — of her standalone Marvel movie Black Widow. Elizabeth is the first MCU actor to support Scarlett Johansson after she filed a suit against Marvel’s parent company. People have commented on the subject about the silence of influential MCU stars — Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and others.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Olsen said that Johansson was “so tough” and “when I read [about the legal action] I was like, ‘good for you Scarlett’”. She added that “when it comes to actors and their earnings, I mean, that’s just, that’s just all contracts. So it’s either in the contract or it’s not.”

Further giving her take on the decision of producers to release movies in theatres when they are still recovering from the ongoing pandemic, Elizabeth said, “I’m worried about a bunch of things. Not worried on Scarlett’s behalf.” She added, “But I’m worried about small movies getting the opportunity to be seen in theaters. That was already a thing pre-COVID.”

The only other Marvel actor who commented on the Black Widow lawsuit was to publicly comment on the lawsuit was Dave Bautista. “Told em they should’ve made a #Drax movie but noooooo!” he had tweeted.

Johansson filed her suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 29, claiming that Disney breached her contract by releasing Black Widow on Disney+ at the same time it was released in theaters. The lawsuit contends that the release on streaming siphoned potential theatergoers, costing her potential compensation tied to the movie’s theatrical revenue.

Disney denies it breached the agreement with Johansson, saying that her contract did not guarantee an “exclusive theatrical release”. Reports suggest that Johansson’s lawyers tried to renegotiate the contract after the release strategy was changed as a result of the Covid-related shutdown of cinemas.