‘Black Widow’: Marvel Boss Kevin Feige on Whether or Not Florence Pugh’s Yelena Survived Thanos’ Snap
Black Widow introduced Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the sister-figure of Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. The film was clearly setting up Pugh as one of the next big stars in the MCU. And the new trailer for Hawkeye backs up that theory.
Marvel boss Kevin Feige has played coy about Yelena’s future, but what about her past? Will fans ever find out where she was in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame? Did she survive Thanos’ snap?
The final moments of ‘Black Widow’ show Yelena’s next mission
After Yelena and Natasha — along with Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexi Shostakov (David Harbour) — destroyed the infamous Red Room, Natasha turned herself in to authorities for violating the Sokovia Accords. Then, she got herself a Quinjet and set off to free imprisoned Avengers.
Meanwhile, Yelena, Melina, and Alexi had the last remaining vial of the antidote. With Yelena’s next mission being to free all of the remaining Red Room assassins around the world who were still under Dreykov’s control.
With such a large mission in front of her, one theory suggests this could be the reason Yelena wasn’t part of the action in Wakanda during Avengers: Infinity War.
Was Yelena dusted by Thanos in ‘Infinity War’?
Natasha was one of the superheroes that survived Thanos’ snap at the end of Infinity War. But with Yelena nowhere to be found, it’s still not clear if she was in the group that was dusted. There’s a 50/50 chance that she was, since the snap wiped out half of all sentient life in the universe.
The Black Widow post-credits scene was the only part of the film that jumped forward to a point in time post-Endgame. But, it still wasn’t made clear if Yelena was a victim of the snap. Instead, the audience sees her connect with Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Who tells her that the person responsible for Nat’s death was Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner).
Marvel Boss Kevin Feige says fans will eventually find out the truth
During a recent Black Widow Twitter watch party, Feige responded to a fan who wanted to know if Yelena was dusted. He promised fans would eventually find out the truth, but the wait could be long.
“You will find out, but not on this Twitter thread,” he promised.
As Cinema Blend points out, one clue that indicates Yelena was dusted during the snap is Natasha’s behavior in the opening act of Endgame. Her breaking down into tears five years after the snap — just before Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) arrives at Avengers headquarters — could be a sign that she was mourning the death of one or more members of her original family.
Does the end of ‘Black Widow’ imply Yelena was dusted?
Another hint that Yelena was dusted could be in the ending of Black Widow, when Natasha apologizes to Yelena for not rescuing her from the Red Room as a young girl. It was a touching moment that furthered their sisterly bond that had been developing throughout the entire film.
One fan theory is that this is an implication that Yelena would be dusted in Infinity War. The reason being that the two were sisters and could depend on each other. If Yelena were alive post-Snap, wouldn’t Natasha have called her sister to help save the world during those five years?
What about Florence Pugh’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
There are still a few things that need to be cleared up about Yelena’s past. But what about her future in the MCU? Feige played coy when he was recently asked about this during a recent episode of the D23 Inside Disney podcast.
“…I will say that it’s our great hope…as I said before with Rachel [Weisz] and David Harbour, that Florence will have future appearances in the MCU. Where and when will be up for the viewers to see, when it happens,” Feige said.
One sure thing is that Pugh will be a big part of Hawkeye, the next live-action Marvel series to debut on Disney+. At least, that’s what the trailer indicates. Fans will have to wait and see.
Black Widow is now playing on Disney+ premium access. Hawkeye premieres on November 24, 2021.
