In Black Widow's post-credits scene, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine tasked Yelena Belova with killing Clint Barton. Val allowed the former Red Room operative to believe he killed her sister, Natasha Romanoff, and the Hawkeye TV series revealed that Eleanor Bishop hired the assassin.
Yelena and Clint eventually set their differences aside, and the Black Widow's story continued in Thunderbolts* (a.k.a. *The New Avengers).
There was no reference to the events of Hawkeye in the movie, but in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Thunderbolts* writer Eric Pearson detailed a sequence that tied up some loose ends from the Disney+ series. After all, Yelena surely had some feelings about Val being wrong about Clint playing a role in his fellow Avenger's demise.
"Early drafts began with Yelena confronting Valentina about ordering the Clint Barton hit, which was one of my favorite scenes that eventually became not entirely relevant to the Thunderbolts* story," he explained. "I loved it because it emphasized Valentina’s manipulation."
"Yelena entered the scene on fire, furious, accusing Valentina of setting her up to take out her sister’s killer, when, in reality, he was her best friend. Then Valentina completely flipped the script on Yelena," the writer continued. "I believe the line was: 'Set you up? You mean paid you to do a job that, by the way, you didn’t even do? So I heard some bad gossip, pardon me for trying to motivate you. But this is your job, and asking questions isn’t a part of it.'"
Pearson added, "And then that led into the conversation about how Yelena is unhappy with her job/life and wants to make a change towards something more constructive."
This would have been a nice moment for fans eager to see a little more connectivity in the Multiverse Saga, but Pearson is right that it's not entirely relevant to what was happening in Thunderbolts*.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige no longer wants MCU movies to feel like "homework," and referencing the events of a Disney+ series from four years ago might have run the risk of confusing casual fans. Ultimately, it's easy enough to imagine this disagreement taking place off-screen before Thunderbolts* begins.
Will you be heading back to theaters this weekend for another viewing of The New Avengers?
In Thunderbolts*, Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes - Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster and John Walker. After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?
"Thunderbolts* redefines superhero storytelling to deliver a moving and powerful story that does for the 'Multiverse Saga' what The Avengers did for the 'Infinity Saga' in 2012," we said in our review. "These heroes have earned their place on a Wheaties box."
The cast of Thunderbolts* will be led by Florence Pugh as Yelena Boleva, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and Lewis Pullman as "Bob."
Written by Eric Pearson, Lee Sung Jin, and Joanna Calo, and directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* is now playing in theaters.