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Scarlett Johansson Is No. 1 on Forbes' List of 2016's Top-Grossing Actors

Officially the biggest movie star of 2016. (Credit: Marvel Studios)
Scarlett Johansson in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ (Photo: Marvel Studios)

Remind us again why Black Widow doesn’t have her own Marvel-ous solo adventure yet? Largely thanks to her key role in this summer’s blockbuster hit, Captain America: Civil War, the folks at Forbes have crowned Scarlett Johansson as 2016’s top-grossing actor. Reprising her role as super-agile Avenger, Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. the Black Widow, Johansson reluctantly took Team Iron Man’s side in the team’s civil war, which was gut-wrenching within the Marvel cinematic universe, but great for Marvel Studios’ bottom line, as the film grossed more than $1.15 billion around the world.

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That Giant Man-sized number — coupled with a $63 million worldwide gross for Johansson’s other 2016 ensemble spectacle, Hail Caesar! was enough to bump the actress’s total box office tally to $1.2 billion. Not for nothing, but those figures would be even larger if Forbes’ guidelines had not excluded Johansson’s voice-only performances as chatty snake Kaa in Jon Favreau‘s wildly successful The Jungle Book (almost $1 billion worldwide) and a porcupine punk rocker in Universal’s Christmas cartoon hit, Sing (more than $75 million from its long holiday weekend debut in the U.S.).

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In powering her way to the top of the Forbes‘ list, Johansson left her fellow Marvel superheroes eating her dust, including the ostensible star of Civil War, Chris “Captain America” Evans, who tied for second place with his onscreen nemesis, Robert “Iron Man” Downey Jr. Breakout Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie claimed fourth place, which suggests that Warner Bros. was wise to get into the Harley Quinn business with the announced spin-off, Gotham City Sirens. And, like Black Widow, Harley ran circles around the DC Universe’s male heroes, with Batman v. Superman co-stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill having to settle for sixth and seventh place, respectively. So basically, this Forbes list is telling us that a Black Widow/Harley Quinn team-up adventure would make all the money. Ball’s in your court, Hollywood.

Click over to Forbes to see its full Top-Grossing Actors of 2016 list, which also includes Will Smith, Felicity Jones, Ryan Reynolds, and Amy Adams.

Watch Scarlett Johansson and her ‘Sing’ cast mates with Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Paul McCartney having a ‘Wonderful Christmastime’: