Marvel Studios should never have killed Black Widow – and the comics are about to prove it. Scarlett Johansson’s was a hit as soon as she made her debut in Iron Man 2, and fans immediately began to campaign for a solo movie. Instead, Marvel relegated her to the status of supporting character in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. She was given a strange, mismatched relationship with Bruce Banner in Avengers: Age of Ultron, that felt as though it simply came from – and ultimately went – nowhere.
And then, in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Marvel killed her. She died halfway through the film, sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone, meaning Black Widow is absent in the climactic third act that celebrates the MCU’s first 10 years. The timing of this death was bizarre, because Marvel had finally committed to making a solo Black Widow film. It’s now seems clear this was possibly in the interest of launching the new Black Widow, with Florence Pugh playing Natasha’s likely-successor Yelena Belova.
But Marvel Comics is about to prove just how big a mistake the studio made. They’ve confirmed the launch of a new Black Widow series, from Kelly Thompson (Captain Marvel), Elena Casagrande (Wonder Woman), and Jordie Bellaire (Pretty Deadly). The publisher has released an action-packed trailer video for the upcoming series, which will release in September. “Our first arc has some of the stuff you would expect in a Black Widow book,” Thompson said of the series. “But I think twisted in a new way that’s interesting – and where she ends up at the end of this highly personal and life changing story is ALSO interesting!“
Marvel Comics has long hoped to establish a loose synergy between their comics and their cinematic universe. As such, it makes sense for a new Black Widow series to be relaunched ahead of the movie. No doubt Marvel would prefer to have this come out just days ahead of Black Widow‘s release in the cinemas; but the continuing disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic makes it difficult to say when that release may be.
But Marvel Studios is likely to regret their decision to kill Black Widow off in Endgame. The comics division has assembled a top-tier creative team for the new series, and it looks set to redefine Natasha Romanoff as a character. Thompson has a history with such relaunches; she’s one of the talents associated with the Captain Marvel relaunch that turned Carol Danvers into one of Marvel’s A-list superheroes.
It’s reasonable to assume she will achieve the same success with Black Widow, establishing a new direction for the hero that positions her at the center of the Marvel Universe. And here’s the catch; normally, Marvel Studios mimic the best ideas from the comics, bringing them to the big screen. They won’t be able to do this with Black Widow, because in the MCU, Natasha is gone, and there’s no way to resurrect her without undercutting her death in Avengers: Endgame. The Black Widow comics are officially going where the films cannot follow – and that’s sure to lead to a lot of frustration at Marvel Studios.
