Black Widow director says the torch will pass from Scarlett to Florence Pugh

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While BLACK WIDOW is still months away (if not longer), Marvel fans are chomping at the bit to find out what Phase Four has in store for the MCU. And while rumors have been bandied about regarding whether the prequel for Natasha Romanoff's secret agent will hand the electrified baton to her "sister" Yelena (Florence Pugh), we have yet to receive any solid intel one way or the other. Well, looks like much of that is about to change.

Recently while speaking with Empire for their upcoming Big-Screen Preview issue, BLACK WIDOW director Cate Shortland revealed that not only will the movie serve as Johansson's MCU swan song, but that things are just getting started for Pugh's Yelena Belova.

“[Kevin Feige] realized that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction,” Shortland explained. “And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.”

In addition to establishing Yelena as the MCU's newest stealth-oriented assassin, Shortland says that the film will also offer fans some much-needed closure with regard to Natasha's sacrifice on Vormir in AVENGERS: ENDGAME.

“In Endgame, the fans were upset that Natasha did not have a funeral. Whereas Scarlett, when I spoke to her about it, said Natasha wouldn’t have wanted a funeral,” explains Shortland. “She’s too private, and anyway, people don’t really know who she is. So what we did in this film was allow the ending to be the grief the individuals felt, rather than a big public outpouring. I think that’s a fitting ending for her.”

It sounds as if defying expectations is the name of Shortland's game when it comes to the events of BLACK WIDOW. I'm also getting the impression that Yelena will be featured in MCU movies yet to come, even if that has yet to be confirmed. Granted this is just my take on events that have yet to unfold, though everything I've heard about Yelena makes it sound as if the character has the potential to stick around for quite some time. Personally, the thought of getting to know another student of the Red Room excites me, and if BLACK WIDOW is to be Natasha's final bow, it's comforting to know that her long-overdue solo feature will have her going out in style.