Two founding members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes perished in Avengers: Endgame, but while Iron Man’s death felt pretty permanent, fans have been hoping that there’s some grey area in Natasha Romanoff’s demise. Scarlett Johansson will return as the heroine in Black Widow, but this is a prequel set prior to the events of Avengers: Infinity War. Without outright saying it, then, Marvel Studios has been promoting the movie as ScarJo’s final appearance in the franchise. But is it really?
A new report claims that this is a bit of a smokescreen on the studio’s part, with all the speculation around BWÂ potentially being the end of the road for ScarJo in the MCU only helping to drum up hype for the film. According to what an “insider source” has told Geekosity, in fact, Johansson will actually be back in an unknown future project. And this won’t be just a prequel, as she’ll return in “a post-Endgame time frame.”
Here’s what the outlet’s source had to say:
“Marketing Black Widow as Scarlett Johansson’s final bow in the MCU triggers social media and the box office. Obviously, [Florence] Pugh will be Black Widow in the future. But I’m told Johansson will return in a post-Endgame time frame; what project that is remains to be seen.”
As this reminds us, BW is introducing a replacement for Nat in Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova. She’s fully expected to take over as the MCU’s new resident Black Widow, with Pugh confirmed to reprise her role in Hawkeye and likely many more projects after that. However, that doesn’t necessarily preclude a return for Johansson. Her days as a franchise regular may be over, but if we’re to believe this report, Marvel will bring her back eventually.
And it seems they’ll right the wrong of her death in Endgame in the process. The arguably throwaway nature of Nat’s sacrifice in the film has long been a subject of controversy in the fandom. ScarJo has promised that Black Widow will provide some “closure” when it comes to Agent Romanoff’s character arc, but a resurrection for the former assassin would no doubt be widely popular if it ever happened. How it would occur, we have no idea, but this is the Marvel universe, so there are various ways to bring someone back from the dead.
Black Widow hits cinemas and Disney Plus Premier Access on July 9th.
