Every Black Widow In The MCU After Captain America: Brave New World

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Captain America: Brave New World.Captain America: Brave New World was responsible for adding another former Black Widow to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, growing the list of characters who trained in the Red Room. The new Captain America movie featured many ties to the larger franchise it is part of. That has led to a divisive reception, as not everyone is in favor of Captain America: Brave New World‘s MCU Easter eggs. The project introduced a few new characters to the MCU, and one of them happened to be connected to the Black Widow legacy.

More than a decade after Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff debuted in the MCU, Marvel Studios finally gave Black Widow her own movie. The project explored Natasha’s past and allowed the franchise to delve into the Red Room, the cruel Russian facility that formed the Black Widows. Both before and after the movie was released, Marvel used characters trained in the twisted location in multiple projects. Upcoming MCU movies will continue to do that, and Captain America: Brave New World introduced another Black Widow that could return in the future.

5

Natasha Romanoff

Debuted In Iron Man 2 (2010) – Dead

First up is the MCU’s original Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson gave so much to the franchise. Natasha Romanoff was a complex character. Having all the markings of a classic James Bond kind of femme fatale, Black Widow’s most interesting aspect was how she was fighting to clear the red on her ledger. Natasha left the Red Room a fully trained assassin, but she chose to join SHIELD to do good. After the organization’s HYDRA takeover was exposed, she had no problem burning it all to the ground in honor of her morals.

Johansson deserved her solo project like the other Avengers, and while 2021’s Black Widow is not one of the MCU’s best movies, it is still a solid entry in the franchise. It allowed Marvel to delve into the character’s shady past and explore Natasha’s family, which turned out to be quite loving. Sadly, Black Widow is dead in the MCU, having sacrificed herself, so Hawkeye could get the Soul Stone and the Avengers could defeat Thanos. As Scarlett Johansson claims she is done with Black Widow, Natasha’s MCU return is unlikely.

4

Yelena Belova

Debuted In Black Widow (2021) – Will Return In Thunderbolts*

With Natasha out of the MCU, the franchise has already found the perfect successor for her as Black Widow. Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova debuted in 2021’s Black Widow, with the movie cementing the love and bond between her and Natasha. It was fun to see how Yelena brought out such a playful side to Johansson’s Marvel hero. They were sisters, and it is a shame that the MCU did not have them together for more than a single movie. That said, Yelena still has a huge future ahead.

Pugh has already appeared again in Hawkeye. The actress will also reprise her role in the second of the MCU’s 2025 movies, Thunderbolts*. The film will see Yelena Belova join an Avengers-like team of her own. The character is regarded as the movie’s main star, and with the person behind the Thunderbolts, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, being the one who bought Avengers Tower, Yelena will stand where her sister did. There are many theories about how the Thunderbolts will become the Dark Avengers by the end of the movie, which would be perfect for Yelena to assume the Black Widow mantle.

3

Ruth Bat-Seraph

Debuted In Captain America: Brave New World (2025) – Return TBD

Ruth Bat-Seraph is the MCU’s latest Black Widow. The character is one of the most controversial new additions to the franchise due to real-world events. In-universe, Ruth was the security advisor to Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross while he was the President of the United States. Played by Shira Haas, the Israeli character was revealed to be a former Black Widow. Ruth displayed the skills she acquired in the Red Room multiple times throughout the film, with the Marvel character being quite impressive in combat.

Since Ross is in the Raft after he transformed into Red Hulk and destroyed the White House during his rampage, he is no longer the President of the United States. As such, what the future holds for Ruth is unclear. At the moment, the most likely return for the character would be in a possible Captain America: Brave New World sequel. Marvel has yet to reveal whether Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson will get a movie franchise or if the Captain America film was a one-off. However, since Sam is confirmed for the next two Avengers movies, Ruth could return there.

2

Melina Vostokoff

Debuted In Black Widow (2021) – Return TBD

Rachel Weisz made Melina Vostokoff a very interesting MCU character. As the matriarch of the family that included David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, and Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Melina became an important player in the franchise. While most of the characters related to the Red Room were younger girls training to be Black Widows, Melina was a high-ranking operative. She was so crucial to the Red Room that she went through the Black Widow conditioning not once, but four times.

While the reason for that is not totally explained in the movie, it is easy to understand that, like the rest of her family, Melina grew to see the faults in the way the Red Room did things. However, as she was so important, they had her reconditioned multiple times to remain loyal to the cause. Having helped Dreykov create a mechanism to brainwash the Widows, it was only right that Melina would burn the Red Room down with her family to atone for her sins. Melina would make for a cool surprise appearance in Thunderbolts*.

1

Antonia Dreykov

Debuted In Black Widow (2021) – Will Return In Thunderbolts*

Finally, the last Black Widow on the list is the daughter of the man who was in charge of the program. After she was the victim of a bombing orchestrated by Natasha Romanoff to kill her father, Antonia was altered, with a chip allowing her to repeat the moves shown by other characters and use them as part of her repertoire. As the MCU’s version of the comic book villain Taskmaster, Antonia became the commander of the Red Room before she was exposed to Red Dust and could regain control of her mind.

The character’s next move will be seen in May’s Thunderbolts*. Sadly, it seems like Antonia will not get a lot of time to explore what life looks like for her after finally being freed. Taskmaster is likely the first member of the team to die in the film, as the character appears in the same shots in every trailer for the film. As such, her death could be what sets the movie’s stakes early on. Taskmaster will be on the same team as Yelena Belova, adding to Black Widow‘s MCU legacy.

Movie

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Black Widow

6/10

Release Date

July 9, 2021

Runtime

134 minutes

Director

Cate Shortland

Writers

Ned Benson, Don Heck, Stan Lee, Don Rico, Jac Schaeffer

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