Fans know that death isn’t necessarily the end in the Marvel universe, so there’s been a lot of speculation over whether Black Widow will really be Scarlett Johansson’s last appearance in the MCU or not. Sure, Natasha Romanoff died in Avengers: Endgame, but there are various ways to reverse that fate. However, the actress herself seems pretty confident that she’s saying goodbye to the franchise with the upcoming prequel film in a new interview.
While speaking to ComicBook.com, Johansson reflected on her bittersweet feelings about bidding farewell to the role that she’s played for so long, describing Black Widow as like leaving “a party when it’s still raging”.
“Honestly, I feel like it’s always, it feels great to leave a party when it’s still raging and I think that this film [Black Widow] feels very much like it’s alive and fresh and powerful and I feel really pleased with it,” Johansson said. “I feel really happy with the work that we’ve done for this decade of time and, you know, it’s bitter sweet to say, ‘Goodbye,’ but if you love something, you need to set it free!”
After Nat’s death was given short shrift in Endgame, BW will rewind through her timeline a little bit and see what she got up to prior to the whole Thanos situation beginning in Avengers: Infinity War. As we’re well aware by now, thanks to the year and a half’s worth of trailers we’ve gotten while waiting for it to get here, the movie will see Natasha reunite with her Russian family, including surrogate sister Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh).
All the signs are pointing to Pugh becoming the MCU’s new resident Black Widow. It’s already confirmed that Yelena will be back as soon as Hawkeye, which debuts later this year. Even so, rumors and reports have insisted that Marvel hasn’t closed the doo on bringing Nat back for good and are considering resurrecting her. Similarly, there’s always talk that both Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans could return as Iron Man and Captain America as well.
For the moment, though, it definitely sounds like we can expect Black Widow to wrap up Agent Romanoff’s journey in the MCU, offering some closure for her tragic self-sacrifice in Endgame. Don’t miss it when it at long last premieres in theaters and on streaming from July 9th.
