Hawkeye Concept Art Shows Yelena Taking On The Black Widow Mantle

A piece of Hawkeye concept art reveals Yelena Belova’s (Florence Pugh) scrapped look as the new Black Widow. Debuting in Cate Shortland’s 2021 Black Widow film, Yelena was revealed to be Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) secret sister from her time living with a foster family in Ohio. After Nat’s death in Avengers: Endgame, Yelena is expected to take over her superhero mantle as she did in the comics, but fans may have to wait a little while longer for that to actually happen.

Marvel Studios is currently in the process of moving on from the Infinity Saga. That includes gradually introducing replacements to the original Avengers team. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) has already passed the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), while Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) has been grooming Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) to be the next Hawkeye. Meanwhile, since Nat is dead, Yelena will likely have to eventually assume the role of Black Widow. It seems like that was the plan in Hawkeye, but it didn’t really come to fruition.

Courtesy of digital artist Josh Nizzi on Instagram comes a piece of Hawkeye concept art revealing Yelena Belove’s Black Widow get-up. According to the creator, the “more custom and sleek” look was almost used until changes were made to the show. Check out the image below:

Click Here To See The Original Post.

Looking at this interpretation of the character, it’s reminiscent of Nat’s look in Avengers: Infinity War. In fact, the original Black Widow was sporting her sister’s green vest during the Avengers’ first bout against Thanos (Josh Brolin). It’s curious where the piece of clothing is now, but it would be great to see Yelena reclaim it when she almost inevitably assumes the title of Black Widow. More than the character’s look, however, the revelation that Marvel Studios was seemingly planning on officially debuting Yelena as the next Black Widow in Hawkeye is an interesting one. Unfortunately, Nizzi didn’t share why the original narrative changed. Given the secrecy surrounding these projects, it’s entirely possible he might not even know that it was changed until the show came out.

It’s curious why this particular plotline was changed. Considering how Hawkeye resolved Yelena’s misguided grudge against Clint, Marvel Studios could’ve still pushed forward with the idea, perhaps via a post-credit scene. She could’ve even joined him and Kate for Christmas just to end the show on a really feel-good note. But that also meant that they would have to cut Yelena’s ties with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) since the superhero identity can’t really be associated with what appears to either be the Thunderbolts or a variation of the Dark Avengers.

Source: Josh Nizzi/Instagram

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