+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

'Black Widow' has one end-credits scene. Here's what it means for future Marvel shows and movies.

Jul 9, 2021, 07:54 IST
Insider
"Black Widow" pays tribute to Natasha at its very end. Marvel Studios
  • Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for Marvel's "Black Widow."
  • There's one scene after the main credits roll, featuring Yelena and Val (Julia Louis-Dreyfus).
  • It teases a potential group and what to expect in Disney+'s upcoming "Hawkeye" series.
Advertisement

"Black Widow" is finally in theaters and available to purchase on Disney+.

If you watch, make sure to stick around for a mid-credits scene which teases the return of a mystery Marvel character and hints at what's to come in Disney+'s upcoming "Hawkeye" series.

If you left the theater early or saw the scene and weren't sure what to make of it, we have you covered.

What happens: Yelena is approached by Julia Louis-Dreyfus' mysterious Marvel character.

Florence Pugh and Scarlett Johansson in "Black Widow." Yelena visits Nat's grave and rests her head on it just like in the photo above. Marvel/Disney

Yelena (Florence Pugh) and a dog get out of a blue pickup truck. They're in a wooded area in Ohio, where Yelena and Natasha (Scarlet Johansson) grew up.

Advertisement

Yelena walks to a grave surrounded by cards, flowers, and stuffed animals. It reads, "daughter, sister, Avenger." As the camera zooms out, you can spot the Black Widow insignia on it. This is Nat's grave.

Yelena, visibly upset, is making sure the vigil is neat and organized. She then walks over to the side of the grave and leans her head into it, the way she and Nat would lean their heads into one another. Yelena sniffles and whistles out to the woman who was like a sister to her. No one responds.

As she stands in front of the grave, footsteps approach her. A person off-camera is heard blowing their nose loudly. Yelena turns to see Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (aka Val), played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

"Sorry. I'm allergic to the Midwest," Val says.

"What this woman did, honestly, I can't even imagine," Val continues as Yelena looks increasingly annoyed.

Advertisement

"You're not supposed to be bothering me on my holiday time, Valentina," says Yelena.

Val claims she's just there paying her respects, but Yelena doesn't buy it.

"You know, coming here makes you look desperate," Yelena says, to laughter from Val. "I want a raise."

"You and me both," Val responds.

"Believe me, you're gonna earn it. I've got your next target," Val adds, taking out a tablet from a purse. "Thought I'd hand-deliver it. Maybe you'd like a shot at the man responsible for your sister's death."

Advertisement

Val hands the device over to Yelena and it shows an image of Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremey Renner).

"Kind of a cutie, don't you think?" Val asks.

The scene then cuts to black.

What you should immediately notice: This scene takes place after 'Avengers: Endgame.'

Hawkeye and Black Widow visit Vormir in order to get the soul stone in "Avengers: Endgame." Unfortunately, one of them needs to sacrifice their life in order to get it. Marvel Studios

Let's get the obvious out of the way first before we get to Val.

Advertisement

While the majority of "Black Widow" takes place in the past, in between the events of 2016's "Captain America: Civil War" and 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War" while Nat's on the run from the government for helping Cap, the mid-credits scene flashes forward years later.

This isn't noted in the mid-credits, but we know the scene takes place years later because Nat sacrificed herself in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" so Hawkeye could get the soul stone and help prevent Thanos from creating "the blip."

We never received a funeral scene for Nat, so it was nice to see one of the other original Avengers remembered here.

What else it means: We may see Yelena again sooner than we expected.

We wouldn't be surprised to see Yelena appear on "Hawkeye." Disney

One of the main takeaways is that we may see Yelena show up on Disney+'s upcoming "Hawkeye" series that's set to premiere sometime this fall. The mid-credits scene makes it look like she's going to go after Clint, something which is completely unwarranted.

That leads us to the following...

Advertisement

We don't trust Val.

It's worth noting that this was supposed to be Louis-Dreyfus' first introduction into the MCU. ("Black Widow" had an initial summer 2020 release, ahead of "TFATWS.") Marvel Studios

We know Hawkeye didn't kill Nat. Hawkeye tried his best to risk his life so Nat could live in "Endgame." So why is Val trying to convince Yelena that he did kill her?

Any Avenger knows that Hawkeye didn't kill Nat. That automatically tells us that Yelena likely isn't in contact with the Avengers or any newer Avengers initiative (think Young Avengers) - yet, anyway.

We bet Val also knows that Hawkeye isn't responsible for Nat's death. It seems like Val and whatever organization she's working for (or with) may want some of the original Avengers out of the picture for some reason.

Maybe the "Hawkeye" series, which is currently due out this fall on Disney+, will help shed some more light on Val's intentions in the MCU.

Advertisement

Wait. Who is Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character Val and what is she up to? She's likely wrangling a team of her own, but maybe not a good one.

Val approaches John Walker and his wife on "The Falcon and the Winter Solider." Marvel Studios

JLD's Val first appeared on episode five of Marvel's Disney+ show, "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" ("TFATWS"). Val visited a down-on-his-luck John Walker (Wyatt Russell) soon after he was stripped of the title of Captain America. (TL;DR: Walker killed a man in public and that's just not a thing you do when you're a superhero.)

"We're not gonna need a Captain America. We're gonna need... a US Agent," Val told Walker before giving him and his wife a seemingly blank business card and telling them that she'd be in touch.

Depending on how the MCU adapts Val's comic character, Val could either be revealed as a leader of Hydra (yup, that organization just never goes away), have deep ties to S.H.I.E.L.D., be a sleeper agent who was trained in the same or a similar place to Nat and Yelena, or all of the above.

It's also been noted that JLD's Val may be assembling her own anti-hero/villain squad called The Thunderbolts. That feels rather accurate. From her two appearances in the MCU so far, Val certainly feels like an anti-Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who is rounding up her own league of Marvel characters.

Advertisement

Val, and the well-connected mystery organization she's working for, is well aware that Walker took the super-soldier serum despite very few people having that knowledge.

John Walker looked rather confused when Val announced that she knew he took the serum. Marvel Studios

In "Black Widow," Val wasn't recruiting Yelena. Rather, it appears that they've been working together for some time.

During the Phase One Marvel movies, Fury showed up in many of the singular MCU movies to wrangle up the superheroes and create the Avengers.

We wouldn't be surprised if Val continues showing up in other Phase 4 Marvel projects, slowly wrangling up her own team (imagine if she recruits Hulk villain, the Abomination). After "Loki," Marvel's upcoming projects for 2021 include "Ms. Marvel," "Hawkeye," "Shang-Chi," and "Eternals."

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article