Scarlett Johansson's Julia looking scared at something while sitting at her desk in The Exorcist: Martyrs NYCC

EXCLUSIVE: As she makes a rare return to the genre, Scarlett Johansson's The Exorcist: Martyrs performance gets one of the most important verdicts.

The two-time Oscar nominee leads the ensemble roster of Mike Flanagan's new horror reboot as Julie Miller, a New York Police Department detective who finds herself in a tense fight for her young son's life when a string of serial killings point to a dark case from her past that may have a demonic core to it. Alongside Johansson, the star-studded Exorcist: Martyrs cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Diane Lane, Jacobi Jupe, Sasha Calle, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo and Gil Bellows, as well as numerous Flanagan vets.

Johansson leading Flanagan's Exorcist: Martyrs marks a notable change for the actor in that it's her first horror-centric project in over a decade, having last been seen in the 2013 adaptation of the sci-fi thriller Under the Skin. The time since has seen her focus on blockbuster fare like her Marvel Cinematic Universe tenure as Natasha Romanoff, better known as Black Widow, and such prestige dramas as Netflix's Marriage Story.

Now, in honor of the film's first trailer debut at 2026's New York Comic Con, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed Mike Flanagan to discuss The Exorcist: Martyrs. When asked about why Johansson proved to be the perfect fit for his film's central character, the writer/director began by praising the Oscar nominee as "a remarkable actor" as much as being a "movie star," and finding a way to balance the projects that she does:

Mike Flanagan: Scarlet is one of those rare, rare performers who can inhabit both of those — who can turn in Oscar-caliber performances of incredible nuance, and also carry the weight of some of the biggest movies made recently. So, Scarlet's incredible. She's a juggernaut.

Flanagan went on to tease that part of why he's thrilled to have Johansson leading The Exorcist: Martyrs is that "she's playing something I've never seen her play before," particularly citing the fact that "this is not her genre" and that the star "doesn't love horror." The writer/director even chuckled as he expressed that "it's really kind of charming" how afraid of horror Johansson proved while making the film.

As for her performance, Flanagan beamed as he shared that Johansson brings "a ferocity" to Detective Julie Miller, describing her as the antithesis of many genre protagonists in that she "isn't someone who's running from the horrors on the screen," but rather is "chasing them." This, in turn, proves just part of his efforts to "flip the whole movie up on its head," and feeling that there "is no one equipped to handle that with the strength that Scarlett does":

Mike Flanagan: She's a character who runs toward the darkness, because that's her job, and this puts her up against something she never could have contemplated before, which is really fun. But it's a great performance. It's one of my favorites I've seen from her in a very long time, and I've loved so much of what she's been doing recently. So, it was a real pleasure to watch her on set.

The conversation eventually shifted to the final scene in the first Exorcist: Martyrs trailer, in which Julie's son Max calls her "mom," only for her to say that she'd prefer he didn't do so. Most prior Exorcist films have featured similar sequences in which the child characters are possessed and, as Flanagan describes, the parents "react with horror and fear" upon suspecting they're not talking to their offspring.

However, as he looks to "flip expectations" for the franchise as a whole, Flanagan excitedly shared that the scene is "one of my favorites in the film" and is a perfect tease of the strength Johansson brings to the part:

Mike Flanagan: Scarlet reacts with interrogation, and will meet that force at its level, eye to eye, and that's part of the real fun of this movie. And Jacobi Jupe, who plays her son in the film, who really broke out in Hamnet last year, is just one of the most remarkable young actors. And to see them square off at times is really, really incredible to watch.

Much to Flanagan's point about her lack of interest in it, The Exorcist: Martyrs not only breaks Johansson's 13-year gap from horror, but also her third-ever outing in the genre. Her debut came with the David Arquette-led Eight Legged Freaks, though unlike Flanagan's new movie and Under the Skin, it was a much more tongue-in-cheek send-up of the B-movie monster horror genre.

Intriguingly, Johansson also isn't the first major performer to find themselves transitioning into trying the horror genre out more after working with him. Everyone from Rahul Kohli, who went from the cult favorite iZombie to multiple Flanagan projects beginning with The Haunting of Bly Manor, to Mark Hamill, who was urged by his horror-hating wife to join The Fall of the House of Usher, have clearly been invigorated by the writer/director's mix of in-depth character work, emotional storytelling and effective terror to trust being part of his genre efforts.

Given how much Flanagan is aiming to flip both franchise and genre conventions with The Exorcist: Martyrs, it will be interesting to see how Johansson's into-danger-running detective will ultimately hold up against whatever demonic foe she's facing. Regardless of the plot, though, with the Oscar nominee now back in the world of horror thanks to Flanagan, it will be interesting to see if the pair continue to work with one another on future projects.

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Scarlett Johansson's First Horror Performance In 13 Years Gets Glowing Early Review From Mike Flanagan