The onset of the Coronavirus pandemic forced Marvel Studios to reshuffle the Phase Four release calendar more than once, with Black Widow initially set to kick things off in May 2020 before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier hit Disney Plus in August. Instead, the franchise’s post-Infinity Saga rollout began with January’s WandaVision, and Natasha Romanoff’s standalone blockbuster is now coming in July.
Sam and Bucky’s spinoff was one of the first major Hollywood productions to get shut down by COVID-19, but the finale finally aired yesterday and it’s set some major plotlines in motion for the future. However, insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that cameos from Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers were cut from the show, but the tipster doesn’t delve into the reasons why or how the respective stars would’ve factored in.
Evans’ potential MCU return is still hazy, so it’s best to take that one with a pinch of salt, but Pugh is an altogether different matter. Black Widow was initially set to arrive before The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and there was a lot of speculation that the MCU’s new top secret operative was being lined up for a surprise guest spot to provide some connective tissue between the two projects, which might even explain why the finale was one of the shorter episodes and left several story points feeling a little rushed.
Pugh has also been confirmed for Hawkeye, so she’s evidently no stranger to the MCU’s Disney Plus roster, but after Marvel admitted that the continuity had to be altered slightly to account for the delays, it would make sense for the Academy Award nominee to lose her The Falcon and the Winter Soldier cameo if it tied into whatever happens in Black Widow.