Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow Photo: VCG

Chinese netizens took to social media on Thursday to congratulate actress Scarlett Johansson after US gossip column Page Six reported that “multiple sources” say she is pregnant. The actress has a large following in China, mainly due to her role as Black Widow in the Marvel movies. 

According to Page Six on Wednesday, Johansson is expecting her first child with Colin Jost, indicating that the Hollywood actress is in fact quite pregnant and will be “due soon.”

Rumors about the pregnacy sparked among Western media outlets as early as June after the actress skipped out several promotional events for the movie Black Widow, which debuts in the US on Friday. If true, it will be the couple’s first child and the actress’s second. 

Yet clearly the rumors didn’t make their way to the ears of Chinese fans until the pregnancy news went viral on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Wednesday.

Netizens sent their blessings to the couple while the hashtag “Scarlett Johansson is pregnant” earned more than 400 million views on Sina Weibo by Wednesday afternoon.

The 36-year-old has won the hearts of countless Chinese people as Black Widow in Marvel's superhero films over the past decade. 

Avengers: Endgame released in the Chinese mainland in April 2019, taking the box office by storm to earn more than 4 billion yuan ($616 million). The movie once squeezed into third place among the list of mainland’s highest earning films behind action film Wolf Warrior 2 and the science fiction film Wandering Earth. It is currently the sixth highest earning film in the market and the No.1 imported film. 

The news that Black Widow, the character’s first standalone film, would be coming to the Chinese mainland once set off a wave of anticipation among Chinese fans on Sina Weibo, earning 470 million views in March. However, while the film released in many markets on Wednesday and is slated for release in North America on Friday, fans are still waiting for a final release date for the Chinese mainland. 

Global Times