credit: MCU
One question keeps reverberating in my mind, no matter if it’s not popping up in the MCU or anywhere else, and that’s whether Yelena Belova will be able to take the place of Natasha Romanoff in the MCU. The quick and easy answer is no, especially since Black Widow came to mean so much to so many fans during her time in the MCU. Yelena is bound to be an excellent character for a couple of reasons: Florence Pugh is a fun actress to watch, and she’s still getting better as time goes on. But another is that Yelena, no matter how long she’s around, has every chance to be another great character if the movie gods are kind. While it sounds like more rumor than anything, it would appear that the plan is to have Yelena lead the new team on the block, the Thunderbolts. I know the Thunderbolts aren’t precisely a new team to Marvel, but in the MCU, they have yet to be given their first appearance, so ‘new’ is still an accurate term to use.
credit: MCU
It’s not hard to see how things have led up to this.
Even if things appear to be haphazard at times, it’s important to remember that those running the MCU do have a plan and are piecing it together a bit at a time as the MCU is developed with one movie and one show after another. While not every character that people are hoping to see join the team has been revealed, one has to admit that the fans have seen several of those that they wish to see the band together as a team, however dysfunctional they might be. If the individuals that people are hoping for and expecting do band together, it will be like another Suicide Squad, Marvel-style. This will no doubt excite many Marvel fans, but there’s bound to be a ton of commentary about it in the days to come.
Is Yelena a leader?
In the comics, that might be tough to say, but in the MCU…yeah, it’s still tough to say since she hasn’t been much of a leader in the movie and show she’s been seen in. At this point, one has to wonder how that will change and what will end up making Pugh step up to take a leadership role, especially if US Agent and Baron Zemo are going to be a part of the group. It’s fair to say that if Red Hulk and Ghost are on the team, as seen in pictures, they’ll also be a little difficult. In other words, the team that many want to see assembled are personalities that aren’t likely to mesh even in the hardest of times since they’re a little too independent and they’re bound to clash more often than not. If Taskmaster is going to be a part of the group, she might be the only one that does what she’s expected to. Still, without being subjected to any sort of control as she was in Black Widow, it’s fair to say that this might not be entirely accurate.
credit: MCU
Out of the bunch, Yelena might be the most emotionally balanced.
Right now this is more of an assumption than anything since there’s still Baron Zemo to deal with, and he’s far more calculating than Yelena or has a better track record when it comes to being controlled and capable of keeping his emotions in check. Without Natasha around, it does feel as though Yelena might be a little tougher to gauge, especially since she’s also been freed of whatever mind control she was under for a while as a Black Widow. But as of yet, it’s not certain if that’s bound to make her more or less dangerous since her training still makes her one of the deadliest women in the MCU and it’s fair to think that if she’s allowed to operate under her own guidance that she’s going to be a problem for many individuals that are just short of being super-villains. There are even a few of those that she might be able to take out with her superior training.
One has to wonder how this will affect the next Avenger movie.
There’s already talk of how much this movie might cost and how this will affect the overall MCU for other groups. Things are changing all the time in the MCU, and even though the Avengers are still going to be coming back, albeit as a different team, the Thunderbolts are still going to be a group that many will be interested in paying attention to.
Yelena could become very popular very quickly.