Black Widow director Cate Shortland has revealed that Marvel boss Kevin Feige personally fought for the inclusion of one particular scene.

The film, which takes place within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), was released earlier this year, and saw Scarlett Johansson reprise the role of Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow.

Speaking to Empire magazine, Shortland discussed the scene in question, which saw Natasha sit down for a reunion dinner with her surrogate family, formed of Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz).

“[Feige] doesn’t doesn’t give you many directives, he’s very free. But that was a scene he really felt needed to be in the film, and Scarlett and I kept fighting him on it, saying, ‘How will this ever work?’

“But it became a very alive thing,” she continued. “You’ve got this bunch of people shipwrecked together, who are still desperately trying to cling onto the roles that they had in Ohio, because that’s all they know. That’s all they have. And it’s beautiful for me.”

Black Widow received mixed reviews from critics upon its release earlier this year.

In a three-star review for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey described the film as a “a valiant but chequered attempt to do right by the legacy of Marvel’s first female Avenger”.

The film can be streamed now on Disney Plus.