MCU Theory: Will The Black Widow Prequel Introduce A New Version Of The Character?

3. What The Comics Tell Us

Although the MCU is yet to adapt a comic beat-for-beat, in each film, you can be certain that key elements were taken from the source material. Jonathan Hickman's Avengers informed those very films to a massive degree, while Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's Captain America inspired that entire trilogy.

Point being, the same is likely to be the case for the upcoming Black Widow, and it's even more likely that the reason the film is set to be a prequel is because most of the character's stories in the comics tend to revolve around her past catching up with her present.

The best example of this came during Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's stint on the book a few years back. There, they had Natasha rediscover the Red Room, and take down a fellow operative known as Anya. It's more likely that Weisz could be playing that role, and though Yelena Belova wasn't exactly on the side of the angels during her time in the comics, there's more scope for her to actually be in the MCU.

So, who is Belova? Well she was a fellow Red Room graduate alongside Nat, only she didn't defect to S.H.I.E.L.D. Instead, she remained a spy for the Russian government, even facing Natasha and the Avengers on a couple of occasions before ultimately dying during the second volume of Secret Avengers.

She's a complex figure, but one who could easily slide into the role vacated by the original Black Widow. The film could actually juggle both the Headmistress and Yelena into one story, and open up the door to a reluctant ally joining Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the future.