At long last, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has returned to theaters after a two-year absence, with Black Widow now also available to purchase through Disney Plus Premier Access. Fans will finally have the chance to say goodbye to Scarlett Johansson as the actress brings her eleven-year tenure as Natasha Romanoff to a close, and even though Cate Shortland’s movie is a prequel, it’s still going to lay some foundations for the future.
We’ve been hearing whisperings for well over a year about what the post-credits scenes of Black Widow could entail, ranging from the believable to the slightly more incredulous. Now that the comic book blockbuster is out there for the world to see, the stingers have officially been confirmed, and it looks to set up a storyline that’ll be getting paid off much sooner than you might think.
Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova was announced to be returning for Disney Plus series Hawkeye a good few months ago, but she won’t be erring on the side of heroism if the credits scene is any indication. After being approached by Julia-Louis Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine at Natasha’s graveside, where it’s revealed the two have been in cahoots for some time, the MCU’s new Black Widow is handed her next assignment to kill the person responsible for her surrogate sister’s death.
As has been speculated more than once in the past, the target is none other than Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, who of course tried to sacrifice himself in Avengers: Endgame before Natasha ultimately took the fall. Not only does that put Hawkeye on the Contessa and Yelena’s hit-list, but it might additionally indicate that Black Widow‘s breakout star could end up throwing her lot in alongside John Walker and Baron Zemo, with the Thunderbolts reportedly in the midst of being assembled.