Black Widow director Cate Shortland teases there could be plenty of material ahead for a sequel. At long last, the MCU's Phase 4 will welcome the release of its first movie with Black Widow. Once planned for release last year, the Scarlett Johansson-led film will roll out in theaters and will be available on Disney+ via Premier Access starting this Friday. Black Widow is a prequel set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, meaning Natasha Romanoff is currently on the run following the battle over the Sokovia Accords. When her past starts calling, Nat returns to her assassin roots to bring down the Red Room training program once and for all.

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Black Widow holds an extra level of poignancy since, as the MCU stands now, Natasha is dead. She sacrificed herself in Avengers: Endgame so the other heroes could defeat Thanos and save the world. As a result, it remains to be seen if Black Widow will receive any follow-ups. Normally, fans expect several sequels to stem from a solo movie, but with this film being Johansson's last in the MCU, things remain up in the air.

Related: Black Widow’s Complete MCU Timeline Explained

Still, Shortland seems to see plenty of stories ahead for the Black Widow franchise. While speaking to Deadline about the film, the Australian director was asked if she believes it will ever receive a sequel. Shortland gave a succinct, but telling answer: "I think these girls have got a lot of asses still to kick." In other words, there is definitely more story to tell.

Shortland previously said any potential Black Widow 2 would likely have to follow a different character, and her new comments seem to follow along with that. After all, she never said Natasha specifically. Instead, the best candidate to lead Black Widow 2 so far is Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, Nat's sister figure and fellow Widow. Yelena is already slated to appear in Hawkeye later this year, so it's clear Marvel has bigger plans for her. She could easily go on to lead her own movie.

There's also a chance Black Widow 2 could come to be about the other Red Room trainees. Though they'll spend much of the first film acting as antagonists for Natasha and her family, the stars of the film have said one of its biggest themes is the abuse women endure. The other Widows are just as much victims as they are enemies, and there could be a story to be found about their future. Plus, there is also Melina (Rachel Weisz), who has a storied history in the comics. Though Natasha likely won't have a hand in a Black Widow sequel, there are plenty of others who can carry the baton forward, and Shortland seems open to the idea.

More: Black Widow Theory: Yelena Is The Next Dark Avengers Recruit

Source: Deadline

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Rachel Labonte (2231 Articles Published)

Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She's been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson's website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson's student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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