The MCU Finally Justifies Its Comic Relief With Yelena

The introduction of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova in 2021’s Black Widow marked the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first proper justification for comic relief. A quintessential element of the MCU’s 27 feature films to date, humor appears in the form of characters with the purpose of counteracting serious moments and darker themes. However, the vast majority of characters like Shang-Chi‘s Katy, Spider-Man‘s Ned, and Ant-Man‘s Luis, fail to validate their comedic personalities. On the contrary, Yelena’s appearances in both Black Widow and Hawkeye prove that the character exists as a fully fleshed-out human rather than a one-dimensional mechanism for laughs.

The adopted sister of now-deceased Avenger Natasha Romanoff, Yelena spent most of her childhood and young adult life as a Black Widow assassin under the control of General Dreykov’s Red Room program. After another Widow freed her from Dreykov’s chemical mind control using an antidote, Yelena ventured across the world to liberate the remaining assassins, as depicted at the beginning of Hawkeye, episode 5, “Ronin”. The Disney+ series confirmed that Yelena had fallen victim to the Blip, losing five years of her life, during which Natasha’s demise occurred.

Typically, comic relief has defined certain characters solely because the film necessitates humor to adhere to the MCU’s formula. Yelena constitutes a rare case in which her comedic side works perfectly as a coping mechanism for the trauma she has endured in her life. While Yelena drives much of Black Widow‘s and Hawkeye‘s humor, the MCU concurrently emphasizes the part of her character that suffers from her time under the Red Room’s control, the Blip, and the loss of Natasha — which perfectly harmonizes with and serves as an authentic justification for her comic relief. By contrast, many of the MCU’s broadly comic characters are comparatively one-dimensional, making Yelena stand out as a fully-realized and sympathetic presence in the saga.

Black Widow remains arguably the MCU’s darkest film due to its themes surrounding the violent subjugation of women. Yelena’s resulting trauma from her implication in Dreykov’s scheme takes on a humorous portrayal at times, but the movie allows her to be more than a punchline. Yelena’s lighthearted moments in Black Widow include making light of her forced hysterectomy and hilariously gushing over her multi-pocketed vest. However, Black Widow doesn’t neglect the underlying somberness associated with its comedy and represents through scenes like when Yelena breaks down in front of her adopted family when Natasha suggests that their childhood wasn’t real. Other MCU films don’t afford characters like Awkwafina’s Katy or Jacob Batalon’s Ned space to showcase a persona that lies underneath their humor.

Yelena’s comic relief represents a genuine response to the character’s traumatic past, which justifies comedy as an integral part of her. The multidimensional nature of her personality makes her less of a cardboard cutout à la Ned, Katy, or Luis and more of a fully fleshed-out human. Hawkeye furthered Yelena’s dual characterization by presenting a chaotically hilarious dynamic between the Russian assassin and Kate Bishop which was balanced by Yelena’s grim and emotive confrontation with Clint Barton over Natasha’s death. Yelena has endured one tragedy after another and her comedy ultimately comes across as a defense mechanism for her scars.

Furthermore, Florence Pugh’s brilliant portrayal of Yelena as both emotionally damaged and humorously relatable illustrates a personality range previously unheard of in the MCU. Both Black Widow and Hawkeye impressively convey Yelena’s comedic coverup for her traumatic past and Pugh authentically plays the angle. With just two appearances to the character’s name thus far, Yelena’s multidimensionality makes her an ideal candidate for a future Black Widow sequel or solo project. The same can’t be said of the MCU’s other personas dedicated to comic relief.