Florence Pugh may have only made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut a few days ago when Black Widow hit theaters and Disney Plus Premier Access, but fans are already desperate to see more of the actress’ Yelena Belova after she came dangerously close to walking away with the entire movie at the expense of title heroine Scarlett Johansson.
The good news is that we don’t have long to wait for the breakout character of Phase Four’s feature length opener to return, with Pugh having been confirmed for Hawkeye months ago. However, the post-credits scene of Black Widow also indicates that she’s not a full-fledged hero, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine pointing her in the direction of Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton.
While it would be easy to assume that the Contessa’s plan will be swiftly rumbled and Yelena will be back onside with the good guys by the time Hawkeye draws to a close, a new theory says it might not be that simple. As an elite assassin who knows nothing else but tracking down her targets and eliminating them, Yelena is obviously a deadly asset in either the right or wrong hands.
The final episode of The Falcon and the Winter Solider teased that the Thunderbolts are in the midst of being assembled, and it would be safe to assume that Yelena is set to pitch up with Wyatt Russell’s John Walker and Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo as a member, and those two definitely aren’t clean cut forces of good.
Of course, we’ll have a much better idea of where the dominoes are falling once Hawkeye draws to a close, but even if she continues doing bad deeds, the MCU’s new Black Widow in waiting is poised to remain a firm fan favorite.