After watching “Avengers: Endgame,” it’s clear that the story of Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, is coming to an end after the upcoming solo film of the same name. Serving as a prequel, “Black Widow” actually looks to fill in some of the gaps in the history of one of the founding Avengers, and in the process, introduce a number of new characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Yelena, played by Florence Pugh.
But according to Pugh, all those rumors that she’s taking over as the new Black Widow in the MCU is not true. In fact, “Black Widow” isn’t meant to serve as a passing of the torch to a new Widow at all.
READ MORE: 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2020
Speaking to UPROXX, Pugh, who is promoting “Little Women,” talked about the way the film is really about something completely different and definitely not a way for Marvel to introduce a new Black Widow.
“No, I actually will say when we were making it, it wasn’t anything like that at all,” said Pugh. “And I am saying it very honestly, it certainly didn’t feel like a passing of the torch kind of film when we were making it. And I think the direction and the feeling and the vibe behind it was genuinely just trying to make this complicated and painful story. And do it justice because a lot of fans have been waiting for her film.”
READ MORE: ‘Black Widow’ Trailer: Scarlett Johansson’s MCU Spy Hero Has Unfinished Business
She continued, “And also a lot of people I think will appreciate this story. Cate’s [Shoreland, director] done an amazing job on showing these two girls and, I suppose, facing their history and facing their pain. The direction was more on that front. But I’m happy that people have appreciated the trailer and I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Now, does she flat-out say that she’s not going to be the Black Widow in future MCU films? No, of course not. Even if she thinks that, the plans could change and we could be seeing her suiting up in a new film a few years from now. But, it sure does seem as if she doesn’t think “Black Widow” is setting up some sort of status quo for the character, specifically giving Yelena a chance to shine and saying goodbye to Natasha.
And if that’s the case, that’s a shame. One of the best aspects of superhero stories in comic books is about legacy. Heroes die, retire, or disappear and new characters step up to take the place. We’re starting to see that in the MCU with Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) stepping into the role of Captain America and (maybe) Hailee Steinfeld taking over as Hawkeye from Jeremy Renner. So, it would be nice for the title of Black Widow to be passed along to Pugh’s character, which is what was done in the comics at one point.
So, maybe this is all misdirection and a clever way to avoid the question. We’ll find out when “Black Widow” opens on May 1, 2020.