With the long-awaited Black Widow movie on the way, Marvel is finally giving the spotlight to one of their characters who has been in the MCU since fairly close to the beginning but has never been given a solo film. It does, however, seem like a strange choice to finally give Natasha Romanoff a film when her character arc has already ended with her death in Avengers: Endgame. Why is her story relevant now, and what could they possibly be hoping to set up for her character if they can’t include her in any future entries? Is this movie just meant to be a standalone story?
While this might be the case, there’s another theory that’s also quite likely. Black Widow is Natasha’s story and will be giving fans a bit more insight into her backstory, but the story isn’t just going to be for Nat. Instead, it seems like Marvel might be setting up for Yelena Belova (played by Florence Pugh) to take up the mantle of Black Widow in the future.
This move would not be unheard of, both in the comics and in the MCU itself. The MCU has already set up the idea of multiple people taking on the name and legacy of a superhero, such as how Steve Rogers passed his shield and the title of Captain America on to Sam Wilson at the end of Endgame (the implications of which will be explored in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier). It is quite common for this to happen in the comics as well, and is something that might appear more in these later phases of the MCU in order to keep the legacies of certain characters going long after those characters are no longer in the films.
Yelena taking up the Black Widow mantle also has precedent in the comics. She was trained as an assassin and spy in the Red Room, just like Natasha, and was initially sent to kill Natasha and assert her position as the new Black Widow. They fought, and eventually became allies as Natasha convinces her to find her own identity and shows her that she’s been fighting for the wrong side. Eventually, once Natasha Romanoff dies in the Secret Empire storyline, Yelena considers taking up the Black Widow title again, but this time to honor Natasha.
This is likely what fans will see in Black Widow – Yelena’s backstory of how she and Natasha met, and how Yelena originally wanted to be the “new” Black Widow. It is not a stretch to assume that the MCU will then take notes from that comics storyline where Yelena takes the Black Widow mantle to honor Natasha since the MCU version of Natasha has recently died. Yelena is also set to appear in the Hawkeye Disney Plus series, so Black Widow isn’t the last audiences will see of the character, and it’s likely that the MCU will want to keep her around for even longer than that.
This is a really interesting idea, and could be a good move for the MCU. It’s a great way to have a grounded spy character like Natasha in amongst all of the other heroes with superpowers, and it sets up the idea of legacy that the MCU seems to want to explore in Phase 4, with The Falcon and Winter Soldier and Hawkeye (where Clint Barton will be seemingly mentoring Kate Bishop, his successor to the Hawkeye title). Florence Pugh is also a very beloved actor at the moment, and bringing in a big name like her as a regular to the universe is a great way to both get new fans interested and to keep current fans engaged with new characters. Having Yelena take up this mantle means that Natasha’s legacy will live on in the MCU, which is a nice way of honoring her considering that she never got a funeral or memorial in Endgame.
However, there are problems that come with this idea as well. Pugh is going to have large shoes to fill if she’s truly taking over as Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson’s version of the character was in the MCU for 9 years (from Iron Man 2 to Endgame), and the character she created was iconic. While some fans might appreciate the idea of her character being honored through these means, others might not be as receptive to a new person taking on the name of a character they really loved. It might feel strange to see someone other than Natasha Romanoff as Black Widow.
Some also might feel that it’s cheap of Marvel to introduce new characters into the fold in this way, instead of giving them their own unique identity. It might start to feel as though Marvel is just recycling ideas and superheroes and is unable to come up with original characters, even if this move is something that occurs in the comics. Fans might be more receptive to Yelena taking over as Black Widow if they had been familiar with her as a character for a while beforehand, such as how the MCU has handled the idea of Sam Wilson (a character who has been present in the MCU for many years) taking over as Captain America. Perhaps Marvel won’t introduce Yelena as Black Widow right away, but it does seem as though they’re fast-tracking that storyline to be the case fairly quickly.
It will be interesting to see if these are Marvel’s true intentions for the character, and how well they’re able to handle it. A smooth transition means that the MCU might have a new character in Yelena Belova for a long time to come, who has the potential to become another fan-favorite. However, too many missteps, or introducing Yelena as Black Widow too quickly, might take the character down before she’s even had the chance to shine. This is Marvel, however, so it’s very likely that they know what they’re doing and have thought this move out well in advance and have some sort of extended plan for this storyline.
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