Black Widow: Unanswered MCU Questions

Warning: This post contains Black Widow spoilers.

Black Widow wraps up Natasha Romanoff’s arc in the MCU, but it also leaves unanswered questions that need clarification. After multiple delays, Scarlett Johansson’s long-overdue Black Widow movie is finally out in both theaters and on Disney+. The flick completes the character’s personal story in the franchise focusing on a personal mission that pertains to her past. 

Working around Nat’s controversial death in Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow takes place after the falling out of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans) in Captain America: Civil War, just before Team Cap was busted out of the Raft. Directed by Cate Shortland, the blockbuster has mostly a contained narrative, with no other Avengers showing up. Instead, it introduces Nat’s Russian family:Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour). As a unit, they revisit their shared connection with the Red Room by finally taking it down. 

Admittedly, Black Widow may have been more impactful had it been slated earlier in the MCU. Nevertheless, it delivers on its promise to give Nat a better send-off than her death in Endgame. But despite this being the end of her journey, Marvel Studios left some queries unanswered that could ultimately be addressed in future projects. 

Click here to watch Black Widow: Biggest Unanswered MCU Questions on YouTube.

Who Created Red Dust?

Yelena’s accidental contact with the substance dubbed the red dust is what frees her from being under Red Room’s mind control. The antidote was then used to free the remaining Black Widows in the flying Red Room, as well as Taskmaster, who, it was revealed, was General Dreykov’s (Ray Winstone) daughter Antonia (Olga Kurylenko). Not much is known about the origins of red dust, only that it’s synthesized by a former Black Widow from Melina’s generation. At the end of Black Widow, Nat sends Yelena to free the remaining Black Widows around the world with Melina potentially being able to reverse engineer the antidote. Still, it’s never revealed who created it in the first place. 

Did Red Guardian Really Fight A Captain America?

Before Nat and Yelena broke out Alexei from prison, he was recounting his fight with Captain America sometime in the ’80s as the Red Guardian. His fellow prisoners accused him of lying because Steve Rogers was still on the ice at this point, but he’s adamant about it. Later on, he even asked Nat if Steve ever mentioned battling him. Given the timeline, it’s indeed almost impossible that Alexei faced the original Super Soldier. However, considering his commitment to the said story, what are the chances that he fought a different iteration of Captain America, like Isaiah Bradley, instead?

Who Are Black Widow’s Parents (& What About Red Skull’s Tease)?

Nat was made to believe that she was abandoned on the street by her family and was put in custody by the Russian government. But Melina later revealed that this wasn’t the case. Instead, she was sold to Dreykov by her father against her mother’s wishes. Because her mother couldn’t let her go, she was murdered by Dreykov. Despite this new information, the names of Nat’s identities are never mentioned in Black Widow which makes Red Skull’s (Ross Marquand) comment about her father being named Ivan in Endgame more intriguing. 

How Did Black Widow Escape General Ross’ Arrest?

At the end of Black Widow, General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt) finally caught up to Nat who was being hunted for going against the Sokovia Accords. Instead of joining Yelena, Melina, Alexei, and the rest of freed Black Widows to escape, Nat decides to stay behind, supposedly to hold off Ross. The film doesn’t show what immediately followed; instead, it caught up with Nat, who’s already sporting her shorter blonde hair, two weeks later on her way to help Steve break out Team Cap. So how exactly did Nat evade arrest again? Did she escape or was she let go?

What Happened To The Freed Black Widows, Including Antonia?

With the Black Widows no longer mind-controlled, they’re free to do whatever they want. Chances are that they joined Yelena’s quest to free fellow trafficked girls around the world. But what happened to them after that? It’s particularly interesting to see where Antonia ended up considering her special set of skills as Taskmaster.  

How Did Black Widow Reunite with Captain America?

Black Widow reveals that the plane Team Cap used during their Secret Avenger operations came from Mason (O.T. Fagbenle) as per Nat’s request. She tells him that she’s out to help her other family who was in prison. In Civil War, only Steve was seen breaking his allies out from the raft, but based on the latest MCU film, Nat was also part of this mission. So, how did they come into contact with each other beforehand?

Where Is Natasha Romanoff’s Grave?

During the post-credits scene of Black Widow, Yelena, with her dog, Fanny, visits Nat’s grave in an unknown location. The tombstone has the Avenger’s name on it, although it’s dubious if her remains are really there given that she died on Vormir. There are no indicators as to where the tomb is, only that it’s in a cemetery in what seems like a remote place. Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who shows up suddenly, comments that they’re somewhere in the American Midwest, however. It’s possible that Nat’s grave is in Ohio; after all, it’s the closest she and Yelena had to a home. That detail is yet to be confirmed by Marvel Studios. 

How Did Val Recruit Yelena?

In the same Black Widow stinger, it’s revealed that Yelena already has an existing working relationship with Val, and she’s currently on holiday. It’s uncertain how long they have been working together but, given Yelena’s blunt comment about a raise, it’s safe to say that they have been in contact for a while. This begs the question: How did Val recruit Yelena Belova? It doesn’t seem like Yelena is still on her old mission tracking down all the other Black Widows. Given this, it’s curious where Val even heard of Yelena and how did she persuade the former Black Widow to work for her?

How Does Val Know About What Happened in Vormir?

Val didn’t join Yelena to pay respects to Nat in the Black Widow post-credits scene. Instead, she’s merely there to give Yelena her newest mission — go after Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). According to Val, Clint Barton is responsible for the death of her sister and she can seek revenge by going after him. Aside from the Avengers who went through the time heist in Endgame, no one else knew what went down on Vormir that led to Black Widow’s death. It’s intriguing that Val is aware of some of the specifics of that mission.

Where Are Red Guardian & Melina In The Present MCU Timeline?

Black Widow‘s tag connects the events of the film to the present MCU timeline. While it catches up on what Yelena has been up to, it’s unknown where Alexei and Melina are. Nat’s family stayed together after the Red Room’s destruction, and there’s a notion that they would keep it that way after they patched things up with each other. However, the film doesn’t give any indication about the whereabouts of Nat’s parental figures in the modern-day MCU. 

Where Was Black Widow’s Russian Family During Avengers: Infinity War?

Given where Black Widow falls in the MCU timeline, there are questions about where Yelena, Alexei, and Melina were during Avengers: Infinity War, including whether or not they were snapped out of existence. The latest MCU flick doesn’t address these mysteries at all. That said, considering the fact that Yelena has already been working with Val for quite some time, chances are that she survived the Decimation.