Florence Pugh calls Black Widow very raw, painful, and beautiful

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It may have taken longer than anyone expected, but the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film of 2020 will finally put the focus on Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, who has been played by Scarlett Johansson in IRON MAN 2, THE AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, and AVENGERS: ENDGAME. The character's upcoming solo-outing will take place following the events of CIVIL WAR and find Natasha forced to confront her past.

Production on BLACK WIDOW wrapped up last month, but in typical Marvel fashion, very little has been officially revealed. Florence Pugh, who plays Yelena Belova in the upcoming film, recently teased a little about BLACK WIDOW while speaking with Beanie Feldstein (BOOKSMART) during Variety's Actors on Actors segment.

I think we’ve made something very raw and very painful and very beautiful and I think people are going to be really surprised by the outcome of a big action film having that much heart. And I know lots of people will be emotional about her because her character had such a hard ending [in “Endgame”], but it was special learning from her, and she’s been doing this for like 10 years in those films. For this to be her film was special. And I got to be there and see how she does stunts and lives it, and it’s so her.

Florence Pugh's character, Yelena, has been described as a "sister figure" to Natasha, and it will apparently get "quite heightened and heated" when the pair meet up again. Pugh also added that getting to work with a female director (Cate Shortland) on a woman-led film was quite special. "The fact that I got to do one of those films with a lead actress and the most beautiful and warm director, Cate Shortland, was a very, very unique and special experience," Pugh said. "I don’t know what the other films are like and working on them, but I remember being on set many times and thinking, 'I know this isn’t like this, I know this is unique and I have to take it all in.'"

As for what sort of genre BLACK WIDOW will fit into, Scarlett Johansson dropped a little tease earlier this year at San Diego Comic-Con. "It's pretty gritty, but it's also surprising… it's kind of in its own genre, I think," Johansson said. "Some of the movies that we talked about, we talked about The Fugitive, we talked about Logan, we talked about Terminator 2."

BLACK WIDOW is set for a May 1, 2020 release.