Black Widow is dead. This much we know from Avengers: Endgame. And yet, if the rumours are true, Scarlett Johansson is about to, or already has, started filming a Black Widow movie that would be one of the first films in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Though neither Disney or Marvel Studios have even confirmed that movie is happening, we asked Marvel Studios’ president Kevin Feige how “potentially” going back in time for a Black Widow prequel could possibly help move the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe forward for Phase 4.
“There’s a method to the madness,” Feige told io9 while promoting Spider-Man: Far From Home. “There’s always a method and doing things in an unexpected way is something we find fun. There are ways to do prequels that are less informative or answer questions you didn’t necessarily have, and then there are ways to do prequels where you learn all sorts of things you never knew before.”
It seems Feige is suggesting if a Black Widow prequel is coming (which it totally is, come on now), it would be the latter: a film that teaches audiences things they didn’t know before.
Maybe she interacted with the Skrulls like Captain Marvel and Nick Fury? Maybe she unlocked a whole other plot that she never got to finish?
“I look at Better Call Saul as a wonderful example of a prequel that almost completely stands on its own apart from Breaking Bad because it informs you about so many things you didn’t know about before,” Feige continues. “So time will tell which way we’ve gone with a supposed Black Widow movie.” Feige lightly chuckled after that last phrase.
With Marvel Studios set to return to Hall H of San Diego Comic-Con in about a month, we’re likely to get much more news on this “supposed Black Widow movie” soon.
But, for fans dying to know what comes next after Avengers: Endgame, well, Spider-Man: Far From Home will offer a good chunk of answers. That opens July 1.
This article was edited after publication to emphasise Feige’s inflection on the second quote.