The vest. Nat’s wearing the same vest as Yelena, so Yelena is going to die and Nat wears the vest to remember her! That’s a really short and poor summary of one of the most prevalent fan theories surrounding the fate of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova in the upcoming Black Widow. It looks like fans will have to get to work on another explanation, however, as director Cate Shortland seems to have dug a grave for the popular theory in an exclusive interview with Empire Magazine in which she indicates the film will see Scarlett Johansson pass the torch to Pugh.
Talking with Empire about the film, Shortland explained how she and Marvel Studios The-One-Above-All tried to circumvent fan expectations with the upcoming film and how that will apparently lead to Pugh taking over the mantle and, potentially, the franchise:
[Kevin Feige] realised that the audience would expect an origin story so, of course, we went in the opposite direction. And we didn’t know how great Florence Pugh would be. We knew she would be great, but we didn’t know how great. Scarlett is so gracious, like, ‘Oh, I’m handing her the baton.’ So it’s going to propel another female storyline.
In all honesty, the chances of Marvel Studios bringing in a young actress of Pugh’s caliber for a one off were always incredibly low and there are plenty of other ways around the “vest” theory, one of which I teased in a series of tweets back in March:
Yelena Belova…Super Adaptoid. Coming to an MCU near you?
— Charles I Don't Know About NWH Trailer Murphy (@_CharlesMurphy) March 13, 2020
Through the magic of flipping the picture, you might see the word AIM above Yelana's noggin. This is almost certainly AFTER the big, final fight since she's wearing the same outfit. pic.twitter.com/Nuz6l4BqGT
— Charles I Don't Know About NWH Trailer Murphy (@_CharlesMurphy) March 13, 2020
Maybe after this is done, she gets this cool new look and that's what the lines are for. pic.twitter.com/McVggPUcs6
— Charles I Don't Know About NWH Trailer Murphy (@_CharlesMurphy) March 13, 2020
Of course my crackpot theory is just as unlikely to be accurate as anyone else’s, but I’m still not sure that I can get talked out of it either. Moving Yelena forward, both in standalone Black Widow sequels and in other projects, as good character who was corrupted by AIM presents a wonderful contrast to Nat’s bad character looking to make good. Of course we’ll have to wait to see how it all turns out, but with a project like The Thunderbolts rumored to be on the horizon, Pugh could find herself a VERY busy actress over the next decade.
Look for more Black Widow news from Empire Magazine this week and, I would suspect, a couple of new looks at the film as well. Black Widow is set to hit theaters on November 6, 2020.
