Summary
Jake Schreier is bringing Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a close withThunderbolts*, and while previous phases have typically come to an end with anAvengersouting, it doesn’t look like Earth’s Mightiest heroes are available this time around. Bringing together a rag-tag team of antiheroes, it’s a who’s who of MCU mercenaries back for more whenThunderbolts*finally comes to screens on July 03, 2025.
WhilePhase 5 of the MCUhas flipped between magical and mythical outings ranging fromAnt-Man and the Wasp to Agatha All Along, it’s also dipped heavily into the Multiverse for the record-breakingDeadpool & Wolverine. BothCaptain America: Brave New WorldandThunderboltsfeel like more grounded affairs, and with the former being a clear follow-up toThe Falcon and the Winter Soldier,Thunderboltshas shades of being aBlack Widowsequel.
Thunderbolts* Is Missing Melina Vostokoff
Thunderboltsisn’t officially aBlack Widowsequel, namely due to the fact that Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff is nowhere to be seen.Black Widowtook a seat at an awkward place in the MCU timeline, setting itself before Romanoff’sAvengers: Endgamedeath despite coming out two years later. Still, the return of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian inThunderboltsmake it something of a family reunion. EvenOlga Kurylenko’s Taskmasterreturns after being a secondary antagonist inBlack Widow.
Alongside Natasha sitting this out, there’s the noticeable absence of Rachel Weisz’s Melina Vostokoff. Whereas Alexei served as the patriarch ofBlack Widow’s faux family unit, Melina was just as important as its matriarch. As well as having been through the mysterious Red Room four times to make her a ruthless killer, Melina also helped develop the brainwashing Red Dust that brought the younger Widows into line. Havingbetrayed General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) at the end ofBlack Widow, Melina worked with Red Guardian to liberate the Widows and ran off into the sunset having survived the literal fall of the Red Room Academy.
Having shared a kiss with Alexei (in a deleted scene), it was presumed that Melina joined him on the run from Thaddeus Ross (played by the late William Hurt). Ross has been promoted to President of the United States inBrave New World, Yelena appeared inHawkeyeand was clearly emotional following the death of her ‘sister’, andRed Guardianis confirmed to catch up with Belova inThunderbolts*. It seems likely that Alexei will fill in the gaps about what happened between him and Melina, because, by the look of theThunderbolts*trailers, he’s very much living the bachelor lifestyle. Then again, adding Melina to the ensemble can give audiences theBlack Widowsequel they’ll (likely) never see.
Early reports from Production Weekly in January 2024 (viaComicBook.com) suggested that Weisz would be reprising her role as Melina inThunderbolts*. The same report claimed that Laurence Fishburne would also return as Bill Foster/Goliath, which could make sense due to the addition ofHannah John-Kamen’s Ava Starr/Ghost. As the months have rumbled on and themanyThunderbolts*trailers have come out, there’s been no sign of Weisz or Fishburne. It suggests that even if they’re part of the packed cast, they’ll be in minor roles. Either way, it feels likeBlack Widow 2might never happen.
Why a Black Widow Sequel (Probably) Won’t Happen
When Marvel Studios regained the rights to Black Widow from Lionsgate in 2006, plans for a solo movie fell through, and instead,Emily Blunt was sought to play Natasha RomanoffinIron Man 2. Blunt was replaced by Scarlett Johansson due to prior commitments, with the latter soon becoming a mainstay of the MCU. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was discussing aBlack Widowstandalone for Johansson as early as 2010, but due to a focus on the firstAvengersmovie, plans were placed on ice. Despite Romanoff being a major player in the first fourAvengersmovies, her mythical solo movie never materialized…until.
Black Widoweventually moved forward with Cate Shortland at the helm, but some 11 years after the MCU first threw around the idea of Johansson leading her own movie, the novelty had worn off. Many agree thatBlack Widowsimply didn’t need to exist, and aside from feeling like somewhat of a female James Bond movie (with a fun nod toMoonraker), it was criticized for everything from a weak villain to questionable accents. Most frustratingly for fans of Johansson’s portrayal,Black Widowcompletely glossed over her time in the Red Room and the trauma that turned Romanoff into the no-nonsense character who had no problem showing the men of the Avengers how it’s done.
There was also controversy surroundingBlack Widow’s box office and unfortunate pandemic release, which led toJohansson filing a lawsuit against Disney. AlthoughBlack Widow’s $378 million worldwide box office puts it ahead ofThe Marvels’ $206 million, it’s hardly a record-breaking figure. Despite all of this, there was talk about a sequel, with Shortland tellingRadioTimes.comhow she envisagedBlack Widow 2with a focus on a different character or even Red Guardian. Nothing more has come from the idea, and in 2023, Marvel Studios Director of Visual Development Andy Park seemed to scupper those plans when he referred toThunderbolts*as a “Black Widowsequel.”
As well as a question mark about what happened to the legions of Widows who escaped the Red Room’s clutches, there’s also Melina’s potential to evolve into her villainous alter ego of the Iron Maiden. Weisz voiced her again inWhat If…?season 2, but when Melina returned in season 3, it was Kari Wahlgren providing the vocals.Black Widowhas been viewed differently in light of the MCU’s recent fumbles. Elements like Pugh’s lauded portrayal of Yelena set up a bright future for the character beyondThunderbolts*, and although Shortland once said, “these girls have a lot of asses still to kick,”aBlack Widowsequelseems unlikely. Even though it seems hard to squeeze Melina Vostokoff intoThunderbolts*, it would be a shame if her character doesn’t get some form of development further down the line.
