Many comic book readers believe Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow prequel film (set shortly after Captain America: Civil War) will serve as a means for Natasha Romanoff's eventual successor to be introduced.
In Yelena Belova's introduction in the late '90s, comic book readers learned that the character was trained by the same Red Room handlers as Romanoff, and that the series of missions she found herself deployed on were all part of a carefully orchestrated plan by Romanoff to find a worthy successor.
While it's unclear whether something of this nature will unfold on the screen when Black Widow hits theater screens on May 1, 2020, Pugh did share some an interesting description of the film's tone. Check it out below.
“I think we’ve made something very raw and very painful and very beautiful and I think people are going to be really surprised by the outcome of a big action film having that much heart. And I know lots of people will be emotional about her because her character had such a hard ending [in “Infinity War”], but it was special learning from her, and she’s been doing this for like 10 years in those films. For this to be her film was special. And I got to be there and see how she does stunts and lives it, and it’s so her.”
Black Widow kicks off Phase 4 of the MCU and will introduce a brand new villain, Taskmaster. However, there's still plenty of bad guys currently biding their time in a post-Snap world. Click the next button below for a quick list of names that would make for a stellar Masters of Evil or Thunderbolts film.
Loki
After dying in Avengers: Infinity War, a "Hulk Smash" of a clandestine Tony Stark allowed Loki to escape with the Tesseract/Space Stone, creating an alternate timeline. It's presumed that the events of this alternate timeline will be recounted in the upcoming Disney+ Loki series but nothing has been confirmed by Marvel. Hopefully, Marvel attends SDCC this year after skipping the convention in 2018. At that time, Feige stated that Marvel would be attending in 2019 but D23 is also slated for this year, which in the past, has resulted in Marvel skipping SDCC.
UPDATE: We now know that Loki will be receiving his own Disney+ series and that the unreformed version of the character's new adventure will tie into the Doctor Strange sequel.
Red Skull
With the Soul Stone taken from Vormir, the Red Skull is presumably out of a job. Does he return to Earth, perish from old age or set out to conquer some alien planet? While having somewhat of a benevolent nature while explaining the necessary sacrifice to acquire the Soul Stone, it's hard to imagine Johann Schmidt completely dropping his quest for power. He appears to have acquired some mystical abilities as well, as audiences saw him hovering off the ground while greeting Thanos and Gamora.
Prowler
As evidenced in the Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse animated film, the Prowler is Miles Morales' uncle who's depicted as thief and mercenary in the comics. One-time Miles Morales hopeful Donald Glover had a quick cameo as Davis in Homecoming that could potentially lead to bigger things down the road. Someone like Michael Chernus' Tinkerer (who's still at large) could create a power suit for Davis fairly easily.
Ghost
While not an outright villain, Ant-Man and the Wasp revealed that Ghost is capable of committing some pretty heinous acts when she becomes desperate. While Janet van Dyne stabilized the Quantum Energy threatening to destroy her, it didn't totally cure her. Now in hiding with Bill Foster, all it would take is for her to return to her villainous ways would be another desperate situation.
Abomination
The Incredible Hulk is something of a bastard step-child of the MCU thanks to complicated filming rights with Univeral Pictures, and the fact that Ed Norton was replaced with Mark Ruffalo. Still, that hasn't stopped William Hurt's Thaddeus Thunderbolt Ross from appearing in a number of subsequent films so it theoretically should be just as easy to bring back Blonsky. Kevin Feige and co. have also demonstrated that they have no qualms about switching an actor playing a costume or VFX-heavy character, with a new actor portraying Red Skull in Infinity War.
Mordo
The events of Doctor Strange illustrated that the sorcerers of the MCU have some unique and interesting abilities that only another sorcerer can really combat. To that end, the film's closing act saw a villainous switch by Chiwetel Ejiofor's Karl Mordo that probably makes him the most dangerous villain currently roaming the Earth. After he finishes targeting inappropriate magic users, who's to say that he won't decide to bring order to the rest of the world?
Justin Hammer
While not physically a threat, Justin Hammer's wealth makes him a credible threat to the forces of good. With Tony Stark no longer in the picture, it will be interesting to see what effect that has on Hammer. Perhaps he'll take that opportunity to grab the spotlight and sponsor his own superhero team - it would be a treat to see Rockwell's Hammer occupying the role that Norman Osborn played in the Dark Avengers storyline from the comics.
Helmut Zemo
Another non-physical threat, it's Zemo's mind that makes him incredibly dangerous. He's one of the few MCU villains to actually achieve their goal. However, his victory in splitting up The Avengers appears to be undone after Endgame which may prompt him to break free and begin anew. A collection of villains with Zemo as their master strategist would be incredibly dangerous to the current Avengers team that's operating without Iron Man, Steve Rogers, Vision, Black Widow, and an off-world Thor and Captain Marvel.
UPDATE: The character will be donning his famous purple mask and serve as the main antagonist of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier Disney+ miniseries.
The Leader
Like the Abomination, Tim Nelson's Samuel Sterns, aka the Leader, hasn't appeared in another Marvel film despite the fact that The Incredible Hulk planted several seeds for a sequel. The prelude comic book for The Avengers revealed that Black Widow arrived in the aftermath of the Hulk and Abomination's Harlem throwdown and placed Samuel Sterns in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. After the event's of The Winter Soldier and the disbanding of S.H.I.E.L.D., it's unclear whose custody Abomination and Sterns are in, though Thunderbolt Ross is a likely bet.
The Tinkerer
While having a minor role in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Tinkerer's appearance might prove to be the film's biggest contribution to the future development of the MCU. In the comic's the Tinkerer is responsible for creating and upgrading a number of villain costumes and weaponry, including the Scorpion, Spider-Slayer robots, and Green Goblin. He would be a great addition to any super-villain team and would help non-powered villains like Justin Hammer and Zemo become a little more formidable.
Shocker
Bokeen Woodbine portrayed Herman Schultz, aka the Shocker, in Spider-Man: Homecoming and wielded a modified version of Crossbone's Age of Ultron gauntlets, thanks to the Tinkerer. Tom Holland's Spider-Man left Schultz webbed up before going after the Vulture but it's unclear whether he was captured by the police. Like Toomes, he's one of the few villains that knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.
Scorpion
Though only briefly appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, it appears very clear that Marvel is planting seeds to introduce the Sinister Six in a future Spider-Man sequel. Michael Mando portrayed the Marc Gargan version of the character in Homecoming, where it was revealed that he and Donald Glover's Aaron Davis (aka Prowler) were former partners. As witnessed in Homecoming final scene with Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes meeting Gargan in prison, the latter definitely wants to settle the score with Spidey. With Far From Home adding Mysterio and the Chameleon, there's already enough Spidey Rogues to form the Sinister Six (Mysterio, Chameleon, Shocker, Vulture, Tinkerer, Prowler, Scorpion) though their usual leader, Doctor Octopus, has yet to make his debut.
The Vulture
Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes had a change of heart about Tom Holland's Spider-Man after he saved his life and his daughter's, opting to play coy when asked to reveal the web-crawler's secret identity. Yet, Marvel and Sony appear to be building up to the Sinister Six, which in the comics, has a track record of being betrayed by at least one member who's attempting to reform or owes Spider-Man a favor. Keaton's Toomes could easily play such a part.
Ayesha/ The Sovereign
The Sovereign have a big bone to pick with Star-Lord and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy as Rocket Raccoon's theft of the Anulax Batteries and the Sovereign's subsequent retaliation brought great destruction to a race that deems itself superior to all others. As the closing moments of the film revealed, Adam Warlock will soon be targeting the Guardians but based on his comic book past, he'll likely end up joining their crew.