“In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul for a soul…”
That’s the mandate set out by Red Skull during the throes of Infinity War, when the iconic MCU villain informed Thanos that he had to sacrifice that which he loves if he hoped to get his big purple hands on the Soul Stone and its near-limitless power. And so, Gamora was sent spiraling to her death, never to be seen again… until Avengers: Endgame opened up the Quantum Realm and paved the way for all sorts of mind-melting possibilities. Case in point: the exhilarating first trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Back in the realm of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, though, and Joe Russo confirmed that the Soul Stone sacrifice is irreversible, meaning Black Widow and present-day Gamora are indeed gone for good. But that doesn’t mean we won’t ever see either of them again on the big screen.
In fact, it’s thought that Zoe Saldana’s Guardian will turn up alongside Star-Lord and co. in Vol. 3 – though obviously not the present day version of the character – while Natasha Romanoff has future MCU appearances lined up as well, with Widow set to headline her own solo film in the near future.
It’s been assumed for a while that it’ll be a prequel, especially since the hero died in Endgame, but we’re now learning something quite intriguing. According to Sebastian Stan, it’ll actually be set after Captain America: Civil War. Granted, this has yet to be confirmed by Marvel, but it’d open up a ton of storytelling possibilities given that we haven’t really seen much of the ramifications from the Sokovia Accords in the MCU yet.
Let’s not get too carried away, though, as this is still unconfirmed. But now that Endgame is finally in theaters and everyone’s seen it already, perhaps Marvel can ease up a little on all the secrecy surrounding Black Widow‘s future in the franchise.
