Black Widow ending explained: What happens next?
The future is uncertain for Natasha's first family.
It's the nature of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that within a day of a major new blockbuster seeing release, fans are already busy theorising about what it could be setting up next.
Scarlett Johansson's long-delayed solo outing is a prequel set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War (see our Black Widow timeline for details), but that doesn't stop it from sowing seeds for future stories.
The Black Widow post-credits scene confirms that – as fans expected – the story is far from over for Yelena Belova, but there are several other characters in the film that could easily return in upcoming Marvel projects.
If you're wondering what's next for the Black Widow cast, read on for our top theories on what's next for Yelena, Red Guardian, Melina and Taskmaster.
Black Widow future: What next for Red Guardian and Yelena?
It may come as a surprise for fans to learn that every protagonist makes it out of Black Widow alive, after many had theorised that a member of Natasha Romanoff's false family would fall in an act of redemptive heroism.
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This being the intricately connected Marvel Cinematic Universe, it seems unlikely that Kevin Feige would keep these characters on the board unless he had ideas for ways to bring them back in the future.
Of the trio, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) will seemingly have the soonest reprisal, as she is confirmed to be appearing in this winter's Hawkeye series on Disney Plus – a return set up by Black Widow's post-credits scene.
Julia Louis Dreyfus' mysterious new villain Contessa Valentina sends the trained assassin to track down Clint Barton and seek revenge for his role in her adoptive sister's death.
We'll have to wait and see exactly how that particular vendetta plays out, or whether Val's mission will steer Yelena on a darker path than we had expected for her.
The future is more uncertain for Yelena's deceptive "parents", who we last saw escaping to whereabouts unknown at the end of Black Widow, following their successful destruction of the barbaric Red Room.
After some tough conversations earlier in the film, the troubled relationship between Yelena and former handlers Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) seemed to be healing by the end credits.
This suggests that the trio will likely keep in touch and that more collaborative missions in the future could be on the cards, particularly since director Cate Shortland has now confirmed that a Black Widow sequel is a possibility.
If Black Widow proves to be a financial success – which seems likely given the MCU's record-breaking success thus far – we would expect Harbour, Weisz and Pugh to reunite for a follow-up.
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Will Taskmaster return?
Another turn-up for the books: Taskmaster also survives the events of Black Widow to fight another day – and we suspect we haven't seen the last of this comic book fan-favourite.
Marvel Studios kept the identity of the actor under the mask top secret until the last possible moment, but we now know that the MCU's Taskmaster is former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko.
In a change from the character's comic book origin, Taskmaster is no longer selfish mercenary Tony Masters, but tortured daughter of the Red Room's cruel overlord, Dreykov (Ray Winstone).
After being brainwashed into mindlessly fighting her father's battles, Natasha was able to successfully deprogram the lethal assassin at the end of the film – leaving her in the safety of Yelena and her fellow Black Widows.
It seems unlikely that Taskmaster will be retiring to a quiet life in the countryside, given how impactful her action sequences were throughout the Black Widow movie.
We theorise that she could walk a similar path to the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), another assassin with a dark path who has worked hard to find redemption.
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Taskmaster would be a prime candidate for Marvel's team of reformed villains – the Thunderbolts – who are thought to be arriving soon, for which John Walker (aka USAgent), Baron Zemo and Yelena Belova have also been rumoured.
Read more about the MCU's latest as we discuss a possible Black Widow 2 and how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
Black Widow arrives in UK cinemas on Wednesday 7th July and Disney Plus Premier Access on Friday 9th July. You can sign up to Disney+ for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.
Check out our Movies and Sci-Fi pages for more news and features, or our TV Guide for more to watch.
