If there’s one thing the Marvel Cinematic Universe is synonymous with its making credit scenes popular. While they aren’t the first to do it, it was Samuel L Jackson appearing as Nick Fury in Iron Man’s credit scene that changed everything.
Ever since then, fans have waited during the credits for a tease of a future project. The only Marvel movie not to give one was Avengers: Endgame, and that was for a good reason. Even Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki have used them.
Thankfully, Black Widow has one too. It goes without saying but don’t read on if you don’t want the scene spoiled for you. Yes, I’m talking singular. Unfortunately, there is only one scene and it’s at the very end of the movie.
The scene takes place after Endgame. Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) visits Natasha Romanoff’s grave after she sacrifices herself on Vormir. While Tony Stark gets a beautiful send-off involving his ‘heart’, Natasha gets a drab gravestone in a random graveyard.
By the words on it, there’s a chance Yelena or someone she knows had it erected.
The crux of the scene comes after a poignant moment. Julie Louise Dreyfuss returns as Val. While she recruits John Walker in Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Yelena is already working for her. Val was supposed to appear in Black Widow first but due to Covid delays, the schedule was changed.
Yelena berates Val for trying to give her a job during her time-off, but this one is extra special apparently. Val wants Yelena to take down a target with close ties to her fallen sister. In fact, the person she wants Yelena to take down is blamed for Natasha’s death.
Rumors suggested this was going to happen, but the credit scene has confirmed Yelena is targeting Clint Barton. That’s right, the Hawkeye series will feature Clint and Kate Bishop going against Yelena.
The interesting point of the scene is Val’s words. She twists the events on Vormir, making it seem like Clint is responsible for Natasha’s death. There’s every reason to suggest she’s manipulating Yelena and wants Clint dead for another reason. Given we know Hawkeye will also explore his time as Ronin, it might be connected to that.
Also, it’s still unclear who Val is and what sort of team she’s trying to put together. So far, it looks like it’ll be the Thunderbolts or the Dark Avengers. Whatever happens, it looks like the heroes need to watch their backs as a new team is coming to take their place.
