It’s a mixture of ironic and tragic that Black Widow, the movie fans have been wanting Marvel to unleash since Scarlett Johansson made her MCU debut in 2010, is the one that’s stuck in limbo amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We should’ve seen it in theaters last spring, but now we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we can catch it this April instead. The delay is no doubt frustrating for the studio, too, as they appear to be itching to get started on a sequel.
Giant Freakin Robot is reporting that an inside source has informed them that Marvel Studios has plans to move forward with Black Widow 2, but that it won’t star Johansson. In her place, Florence Pugh will step up to take over the lead position as Yelena Belova, Natasha Romanoff’s sister and fellow Black Widow who will be introduced in the upcoming spy thriller. This isn’t a massive twist, as much evidence has already pointed to this eventually happening, but it’s interesting to have yet another piece of intel added to the pile.
After all, We Got This Covered told you this exact same thing way back in 2019. What’s more, director Cate Shortland has specifically said that BW will see Nat “handing the baton” to Yelena, which definitely suggests a Pugh-fronted sequel is the intention. There’s also been talk of Yelena returning as part of General Ross’ Thunderbolts team, so the Midsommar actress definitely has a bright future in the MCU whatever happens.
But what does this mean for ScarJo’s own future with the franchise? Well, she’s certainly winding down her involvement with Marvel, seeing as Nat was killed off in Avengers: Endgame and she’s described BW as providing “closure” for her character, not a new beginning. But this is still the Marvel universe, so there’s every possibility she could cameo here and there. That being said, she’s probably essentially done with the MCU.
Black Widow is currently on course to hit theaters on May 7th, and there’s been increasing talk of at least a simultaneous release on Disney Plus, if not an exclusive one. Whether that’ll happen or not remains to be seen, but at this point, let’s just hope for no more delays.
