Florence Pugh (Little Women) will make her Marvel debut in Black Widow on July 9th. According to IMDb and the official Marvel website, the film will center around Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and her attempts to confront “a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past.” Viewers will get a glimpse into Black Widow’s life before she became an Avenger. In regards to the movie’s timeline, the events of Black Widow take place in between Avengers: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Pugh is cast as Yelena Belova, an sisterly ally of Romanoff.
During a press junket with Syfy Wire, Black Widow’s cast members discussed which character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) they’d most like to work with. According to Syfy Wire, Pugh chose the Hulk, agreeing with costar Rachel Weisz that controlling the Hulk would mean possessing the “ultimate weapon.”
Syfy Wire stated that Yelena is confirmed to appear in Disney+’s Hawkeye, but Marvel fans should not expect her adventure to end there. Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the MCU, will star in Disney+’s She-Hulk as well. With all the Marvel projects underway and in development, there is a likely chance Pugh and Ruffalo could star in something together in the future.
The Syfy Wire article positively describes Yelena as “adorably weird.” She’s an eccentric individual who “[marches] to her own beat.” According to the article, director Cate Shortland encouraged Yelena’s unique personality. Pugh stated that Johansson was also welcoming towards Pugh’s portrayal of the character; the movie set’s “creative space” allowed Pugh to “just have fun” with Yelena’s character.
The first scene Pugh and Johansson shot together was a fight scene where Johansson smashed Pugh in the face with a sink, and Pugh was literally “throwing” Johansson against a wall. Pugh remarked, “And I just remember, like, there was no greater way to just break the ice than really wrestling Scarlett Johansson to the floor. Like trying to choke each other.” Apparently this moment was a great “ice breaker” for the two actresses, as they soon began learning more about each other and developing a friendship.
Check out the trailer for Black Widow here!