With all the time-travelling that took place in
Avengers: Endgame, fans would be justified in thinking that no superhero is ever really gone for good—despite the fact that the bodies piled up at the end of
Endgame included those of [SPOILER] Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. It looks like, in classic Marvel fashion, even though Natasha may have sacrificed herself for her fellow Avengers, the Black Widow herself will live on.The soon-to-be-released
Black Widow standalone film is set to be Johansson’s ninth and final outing for Marvel. But the comic book world is known for its tradition of handing the superhero mantle from a retiring veteran to an eager newcomer willing to don the mask and cape (See: Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Captain America) or passing the baton to an entirely new character who picks up their predecessor’s mission. Enter: Florence Pugh.Pugh will play Romanoff’s sister in the art of assassination, Yelena Belova, in director Cate Shortland’s
Black Widow and Shortland has hinted Pugh will be the one to take Johansson’s place in the Marvel cinematic universe. In terms of the timeline,
Black Widow will be set before the events of Romanoff’s universe-saving sacrifice in the final
Avengers film (a loss Marvel devotees are still grieving) but it's not an origin story—it's a last hurrah.“In
Endgame,”
said Shortland, “the fans were upset that Natasha did not have a funeral. Whereas Scarlett, when I spoke to her about it, said Natasha wouldn’t have wanted a funeral. She’s too private, and anyway, people don’t really know who she is. So what we did in this film was allow the ending to be the grief the individuals felt, rather than a big public outpouring. I think that’s a fitting ending for her.”[video_embed id='1989799']RELATED: How studios like Marvel are planning on protecting their staff while filming [/video_embed]Shortland hinted that it’s precisely that ending that allows for Pugh’s entrance as Marvel’s next star. Moving into Marvel’s Phase 4, the director opened the door to the possibility that Pugh’s Yelena could get her own Marvel movie. “[Kevin Feige] realised that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction,” Shortland said, referencing the decision to make this Nat's swan song rather than her origin story. “And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.”Seen most recently in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of
Little Women, Pugh has taken an impressive number of big roles in her short career. She gave us nightmares in both
Lady Macbeth and
Midsommar while holding her own opposite Michael Shannon and Alexander Skarsgård in the BBC series
The Little Drummer Girl. Her Marvel debut is scheduled for November 6.[video_embed id='-1']BEFORE YOU GO: Pug gets jealous when owner watches videos of other dogs [/video_embed]
