Black Widow is set between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, so that means Natasha Romanoff is being hunted by General "Thunderbolt" Ross after breaking the Sokovia Accords. William Hurt's role in the movie is something of a mystery, though there's a lot of speculation that he'll be forming a team of villains that share his nickname (you know, the Thunderbolts).
In the Black Widow: The Official Movie Special Book (which is now on sale from Titan Books), Hurt was asked for his thoughts both on what Ross' mindset is at the start of the movie and his aims.
"Well, his ego has to match the muscles of Hulk. I do think about that fatigue setting in after he just made this big move to control the Avengers, and it created a huge problem and a huge rift," the actor reveals. "I think in Ross' head he's probably a self-fantasizing person. I think he imagined, back when he was contending with Hulk, that he was the conquering soldier going around the world, but things have gotten more complex and difficult."
"There's always a sense of dignity to what he's doing, but I think he's the soldier on the last hill at this point," Hurt continued. "He's surrounded and he's just trying to protect his way of life. The way he can strike back against the changing world would be by capturing Natasha Romanoff."
Clearly, Ross is on the ropes after his failings in Captain America: Civil War, and he feels that capturing Black Widow is going to go some way towards making up for that. However, she was free and clear in Avengers: Infinity War, so if the Hulk villain doesn't form the Thunderbolts...well, he's in store for another failure.