Scarlett Johansson has really enjoyed her role as ass-kicker since signing on for Marvel’s spate of Avengers films as Black Widow, and now she’s taking her girl power to the latest Luc Besson action-thriller Lucy .
On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter broke Johansson’s involvement and had a few details about what to expect.
In the film, Lucy is a woman forced to become a drug mule, but what her captors don’t expect — nor Lucy either, for that matter — is that the special drugs will work their way into her system and turn her into a superhuman fighting machine impervious to pain.
Throughout his career, Besson has depended on his leading ladies to bring the pain. His 1990 action film La Femme Nikita was so successful, Hollywood tapped him to remake it with Bridget Fonda in Point of No Return . Since that time, it has twice been turned into an ongoing series.
Following the American remake, Besson worked with a very young Natalie Portman on the hit-man drama Leon: The Professional and then cast Milla Jovovich as a big-time butt-kicker in The Fifth Element .
Besson’s most recent successes include Taken and Taken 2 , both of which he co-wrote and have gone on to gross more than $602 million in worldwide box office on a combined budget of $70 million , according to Box Office Mojo .
Taken 2 even topped Best Picture-winning Argo on opening weekend and a Taken 3 is pretty much a given, no matter what Liam Neeson thinks about it .
Scarlett Johansson hasn’t spent a very long time putting men in their place, but in that short period of femdom, which began with her turn as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2 , she has reprised the role in The Avengers and will appear in the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Avengers 2 .
For more on the character and to catch some glimpses of ScarJo’s portrayal, check out the video:
If you’re a little tired of the tough girl act — and really, if you are, what is wrong with you? — watch for some of her more recent fare like We Bought a Zoo and Hitchcock .
In the latter film, the actress stars as real-life star and mother to Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, in an exploration of Alfred Hitchcock’s marriage during filming of the classic horror film Psycho .
It’s — different.
Are you excited to see Scarlett Johansson kick ass again in Lucy from Luc Besson?
