Scarlett Johansson Has Strong Feelings About Salma Hayek Leading ‘The Eternals’

Salma Hayek is set to star in “The Eternals,” a highly anticipated Marvel flick, alongside another kickass female lead, Angelina Jolie. Naturally, Scarlett Johansson, who has long been one of the strongest female leads in this universe, has a few things to say about it.

Johansson could not be any more excited about this MCU expansion to include Hayek and Jolie. In fact, she believes that their addition is nothing short of marvelous. “It was amazing,” she said. “I mean, there’s a lot of women up there that I hugely admire — Angelina, Salma ... Rachel, Tessa ... Natalie,” she shared to E! News.

The “Black Widow” star added that it’s an exciting and timely development. “It’s bananas. I think it’s very exciting,” she said. “I think it grounds the presence of the MCU in a way. It’s very exciting to see such a diverse group of people. It’s awesome. And it’s about time,” she continued.

During Marvel Studios’ presentation at Comic-Con 2019, it was confirmed that Johansson will reprise her “Avengers” character in a standalone “Black Widow” movie, which is already in the works. It was also during this event that the happily engaged actress showed off her eye-popping engagement ring, an 11-carat stunner.

For her part, Hayek knows that her joining the universe is also no small feat and quite a huge responsibility for her. In the panel for “The Eternals,” Hayek talked about her Latinx representation in the superhero movie world.

First, she shared that she’s feeling very honored to take on a role that would allow people who “never felt represented in superheroes” the chance to feel represented. She added that she’s proud to have a diverse family in this universe.

The actress was also so happy to be part of the franchise as a gender-swapped version of Ajak, the leader of Eternals, that she took to her Instagram to share her feelings in both English and Spanish, to widely cover her fan bases.

“I’m so excited to join the Marvel family as Ajak, the mother of all Eternals. It used to be the father of all Eternals, but girls ... this is OUR time!!!!” she wrote, her excitement quite palpable. “Estoy muy emocionada de añadirme a la familia Marvel como Ajak la madre de todos los Eternos. Antes era el padre de todos los Eternos, pero chicas... ESTE es nuestro momento!!!!”

With all those exclamation points, one can certainly surmise that she’s very, very pleased with this development for her and the continually expanding franchise.