After a long wait, Black Widow’s solo movie has finally made its way into the theaters. It is currently doing good business at the box office and has received positive reviews from critics. But fans are already talking about a sequel. However, director Cate Shortland has once mentioned that if a sequel is made, the character might be played by someone else since Black Widow is currently dead in the MCU. She has shared her moniker with others as the Red Room churned out for Widows for decades. But it does not mean the end of Black Widow. Let’s look at the characters that might appear in a Black Widow sequel.
Characters Who Could Show Up in a Black Widow sequel
1. Hawkeye
The credit scene of the movie shows Valentina Allegra de Fontaine providing Yelena the chance to take revenge for Natasha’s death. Valentina places the blame on Clint Barton and asks Yelena to assassinate him. A lot of the MCU fans might blame him but Yelena doesn’t know why Natasha sacrificed herself and so she will be on collision course with Natasha’s closest friend in the upcoming Hawkeye series. So Clint Barton or Kate Bishop might appear in Yelena’s world.
2. Taskmaster
According to Marvel Comics, Taskmaster or Anthony Masters is a villain who can mimic the moves of any adversary. The movie has changed this and made Antonia, Dreykov’s daughter, into Taskmaster. Similar to Hawkeye, Antonia spends most of the movie unable to make choices of her own. Antonia must appear in another MCU movie. The character must be explored with an arc of her own instead of as a pawn controlled by someone else. It took a lot of movies for the audience to understand Hawkeye and the same should not happen with Antonia.
3. The freed Widows
For a long time, Natasha Romanoff has been the only Red Room graduate known by us. Dottie Underwood offered a look at the early stages of the program in Agent Carter. But Black Widow is the first time the audience gets to see that there are more women with similar skills like Natasha. A few of those widows, once freed by Yelena and Melina’s work can play larger roles later in the MCU. It will be unthinkable for any of them to want to make up for their pasts just like Natasha.
4. Melina
Natasha is the most famous graduate of the Red Room program, but she is hardly the first. As Melina points out to her, she went through the program four times before Natasha was born. Melina is a scientist and Widow and was so deep in the program that she believed getting out impossible. The movie’s events change that for her and she has a new purpose to help all the young women she kept in the program. The audience gets to see her help Natasha and Yelena take down the Red Room, but her journey to save other Widows can be a compelling one.
5. Mason
We know that Black Widow will explore the family of Natasha she had before joining the Avengers. But her friend Mason is more of a mystery. He is someone who with some time and a lot of money gets his hands on anything. He is a nod to an existing comic book character. He is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and is more than just friendly with Natasha and their dynamic is not explored as much it could be. He gets to meet Yelena, which means after Natasha’s death in Endgame, she can use him as a contact. This can only bring back S.H.I.E.L.D. in the MCU.
6. Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes did not have many interactions with the Black Widow in the MCU. Their relationship is a major part of the comic book stories that look like a missed opportunity. Bucky Barnes was controlled by HYDRA and not the Red Room in the MCU. But this does not mean he will not understand the plight of the Widows. Just like the young women in the program, Bucky was controlled for a long time and forced to carry out assassinations with no agency of his own. If anyone can understand Yelena’s efforts to make a place for herself and make her own choices, it is Bucky Barnes.
7. Yelena
Yelena is that little sister Natasha had while being a part of an undercover operation when they were children. She can be a successor to Natasha in the MCU. Yelena was trapped in the Red Room after Natasha left and this was not realized by Natasha. When she is freed from there, she wants all Widows to be free. Yelena is a bit of an adrenaline junkie and looks to have no qualms about hurting anyone. Yelena will be a widow operating in the same grey areas like Natasha does in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
8. Nick Fury
Nick Fury had everything in his hand throughout MCU. He will have his problems in Disney+’s Secret Invasion. But he would want to know that the Red Room has not ended with Natasha’s defection. In Iron Man 2, Natasha was the only person Fury could trust to get close to Tony Stark. He trusted her to get intelligence for him right under the nose of Captain America. So, he will meet her little sister and the women who got the chance to break free from the Red Room. There are fewer chances that he will have a large role in the future Black Widow story but he would catch the wind of Yelena’s efforts.
9. Alexei
The Red Guardian desires to be Russia’s answer to Captain America and he tells tall tales about fighting him when it was impossible. He is a soldier who was sold a dream of saving his country and did not exactly get what he hoped for. Alexei is clear by the end of the movie that while he finds the missions fun, he is not the same person willing to do anything and everything for his country. He is committed to helping the family he forged for three years on an undercover mission. If Melina comes back in a sequel, possibly, Alexei would be her help.
10. Valentina
Valentina made her debut in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and she recruited John Walker. But here it looks like Yelena is already working for her after the events of Endgame. Yelena reminds Valentina that she is taking some time off and wants a raise. It looks like Valentina is forming her team of people who wish to do the right thing but operate in morally grey areas. A few theories say that it might be MCU’s version of the Thunderbolts. So, Valentina is tied to Yelena’s future. She might have a cameo in another Black Widow movie.
These are all the characters that might appear in a Black Widow sequel.
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