Can anyone killed off in a comic book blockbuster stay dead? With the exception of Batman’s parents and Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben, the answer would appear to be a resounding no. Hell, The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s home video release even came with a deleted scene teasing that Peter Parker’s dad was alive and well the whole time, which would have been a disastrous move had Sony carried through with it.
Despite being killed off in Avengers: Endgame, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark has been relentlessly linked with a comeback, even though he spent over a decade as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s erstwhile leading man and admitted he’d done all that he can with the character. Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, meanwhile, hasn’t been released yet, but that still hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from churning in perpetuity about what comes next for the recently deceased Natasha Romanoff.
We’ve danced this speculative dance many times already, but the latest from tipster Mikey Sutton claims that Johansson will return to the main MCU timeline in the future, although no details are given as to how, when, where or why. Bizarrely, the outlet’s mysterious unnamed source makes a point of referencing the actress’ box office bankability as the reason behind her comeback from beyond the cinematic grave at the expense of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, with the unproven action star set to assume the mantle moving forward.
Of course, it’s not as if Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman or Brie Larson were the ones directly responsible for the commercial success of their respective solo MCU debuts when the brand has always been the main selling point, but make no mistake, the Scarlett Johansson chatter will only increase once Black Widow finally arrives next month.