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Marvel Studios evidently has big plans for Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova/Black Widow, with the fan-favorite Russian spy reportedly set to lead the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Thunderbolts.
During a recent appearance on Matthew Belloni's The Town podcast, Justin Kroll of Deadline discussed Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts, describing the upcoming film as a Pugh-led spinoff. "[Florence Pugh] has got the Marvel superhero that's already got a spin-off," Kroll said. "Upcoming for her, actually, on that character is this Thunderbolts film, which is basically Marvel's Suicide Squad. Hopefully, it has better results. But the concept is it'd be her leading the team of like Wyatt Russell's [John Walker], Daniel Bruhl's [Zemo], those anti-heroes that aren't exactly good but aren't exactly bad. So there's that. And people seem to like the Yelena character."
Created by Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, the original incarnation of the Thunderbolts first appeared in 1996's Incredible Hulk #449. As Kroll mentioned, the team is essentially the Marvel equivalent of DC's Suicide Squad, consisting primarily of anti-heroes and reformed supervillains who work for the government. This past June, it was reported that Marvel Studios was developing a Thunderbolts film, with Jake Schreier attached to direct from a script by Eric Pearson. At San Diego Comic-Con in June, Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirmed that Thunderbolts would premiere in theaters on July 26, 2024 to close out Phase Five of the MCU.
Yelena Belova's MCU Journey Thus Far
Pugh first portrayed Yelena, the adopted younger sister of fellow Black Widow agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), in the 2021 Marvel Studios film Black Widow, the bulk of which takes place prior to events of the 2019's Avengers: Endgame. As a result of Natasha's death in Endgame, Yelena has effectively become the MCU's main Black Widow. Pugh most recently played Yelena in Marvel Studios' Disney+ original series Hawkeye, which ran for six episodes in late 2021.
In Black Widow's post-credits scene, which is set after Natasha's death, Yelena is approached by one Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who blames Natasha's death on Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) -- a plot point that would later be resolved in Hawkeye. In the finale of Marvel Studios' The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Val is also seen courting the aforementioned John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell). These appearances naturally prompted speculation that Marvel was positioning Val as a Nick Fury-like figure for a prospective team of anti-heroes and/or villains, such as the Thunderbolts or the Dark Avengers.
At any rate, Pugh certainly seems to be making waves in the world of genre films as of late. Yelena Belova has already become a beloved character among MCU fans and, from the look of things, she's only going to become a bigger deal as time goes on. Meanwhile, Pugh is also expected to play the key role of Princess Irulan in the upcoming second part of director Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. Dune: Part Two is currently slated to premiere in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.
Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts premieres in theaters on July 26, 2024.
Source: The Town, via The Direct