Natasha Romanoff’s Marvel Cinematic Universe journey ended earlier this year in Avengers: Endgame, but that doesn’t mean out time with her is over just yet. Next year, Black Widow is winding back the clock back to the period between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, when she was off on her own adventure and couldn’t rely on her fellow Avengers for aid. But what’s in store for the character after this solo movie, if anything?
Officially speaking, that remains to be seen, but Scarlett Johansson is promising that Black Widow will deliver closure for the heroine, perhaps indicating that this will be Johansson’s final outing as Natasha. In her words:
I don't know if I can take it anymore without any closure. It's too exhausting.
At this point, Scarlett Johansson has appeared as Black Widow in eight movies, starting with Iron Man 2 in 2010 and ending with Avengers: Endgame, the latter of which saw Natasha Romanoff sacrificing her life so that Clint Barton could obtain the Soul Stone on Vormir. Unlike Tony Stark though, she didn’t get a memorial at the end of Endgame, which co-director Joe Russo attributed to her having another movie coming out.
So even though we know how Black Widow’s journey concludes, her movie next year will shed more light on her background and show off more of her spy skills and expertise. Whatever your feelings may be about Black Widow’s time in the MCU as a whole, for years many fans have wanted to see her get her own movie to shine in for years, and now their wish has been granted.
That said, there’s no guarantee that Black Widow will get a sequel, and what Scarlett Johansson told ET might foreshadow that this is serving as her final MCU appearance. After all, there’s only so many more places Natasha Romanoff can go from where the movie will leave off with her, and again, we know what her final destination is. That said, even if we assume that Johansson is leaving the MCU, that doesn’t mean Black Widow couldn’t still spawn its own film series.
As longtime Marvel fans know, Natasha Romanoff isn’t the only character to go by Black Widow, and the movie is introducing two others who hold the mantle in the MCU: Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Rachel Weisz’s Melina. Considering that Yelena is the second most famous Black Widow in the Marvel Comics pages, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Black Widow movie is being used as a platform for Pugh’s version of the character to be the star of sequels.
We’re a long way from finding out what the future of the Black Widow side of MCU looks like after this movie drops, but regardless, Scarlett Johansson made it clear that she enjoyed her time on the standalone tale, which is currently in the postproduction process. As she put it:
I love it. I'm so proud of what we made. Now we get to sprinkle the magic all over it. Get it ready for audiences.
Along with the previously mentioned actors, Black Widow also stars David Harbour as Red Guardian and O-T Fagbenle as Mason, as well as Robert Downey Jr. and William Hurt reportedly reprising Tony Stark and Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, respectively, though Downey’s appearance is through unused footage from Captain America: Civil War. Ray Winstone and Olivier Ritchers have been cast in undisclosed roles, and a yet-to-be-identified actor is portraying Taskmaster.
Black Widow opens in theaters on May 1, 2020. Don’t forget to browse through our Marvel movies guide to learn what’s coming in Phase 4 and beyond.
