Natasha Romanoff was killed off in Avengers: Endgame, and the character was given what was promoted as her final send-off in the solo Black Widow prequel movie. Of course, that doesn't mean that she couldn't return to the MCU.
The nature of the Multiverse means that any character (or their Variant, at least) could potentially be brought back, and a recent trade report suggested that Marvel Studios may be considering re-enlisting the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson to reprise their respective roles.
There had already been rumors that Downey Jr. has been approached to play Tony Stark again (possibly in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars), but Johansson had always held firm that she had moved on from Black Widow and had very little interest in revisiting the hero.
In a new interview with The Today Show, Johansson was quizzed about the rumors, and replied: "I feel like that's it, right?" She then joked about returning as a "vampire or zombie" version of Natasha, but when asked outright if she had been offered the chance to play the character again, the actress laughed and moved on to another topic.
Given the current state of the franchise, we'd say there is every chance Kevin Feige has reached out to his former Avengers stars about possibly returning. While another movie focusing only on the original roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes seems unlikely, they might well pop up for one-off cameos in Secret Wars.
How would you feel about Johansson and her fellow OGs returning to the MCU? Do you think it would ultimately help or hinder the brand? Be sure to drop us a comment down below.
Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy, and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Black Widow also stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz, and is now streaming on Disney+.