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I Rewatched Black Widow After Seeing Thunderbolts*, And It Has Me A Lot More Emotional Over Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova

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I Rewatched Black Widow After Seeing Thunderbolts*, And It Has Me A Lot More Emotional Over Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. It's hard to believe, but Fantastic Four: First Steps is the only title left among upcoming Marvel movies before we get our first Avengers movie since Endgame, Avengers: Doomsday. And while I probably wouldn't have believed you if you told me before seeing it, Thunderbolts* is my favorite MCU movie in years, and I have to say a lot of that is thanks to Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova. Never mind the actress already being some of my favorites in movies like Dune: Part 2 or Midsommar, her character is quickly rising in the ranks in the current superhero lineup. And when I rewatched her first appearance in Black Widow, it only made me appreciate her more. I remember digging Black Widow when it came out, but I'll be honest, I've kind of forgotten about it since I saw it. Of course, there's the fact that it probably came out at the wrong time, given the COVID-19 pandemic was still heavily affecting theaters and Disney was experimenting with its Disney+ service, perhaps to the detriment of the movie's performance. But, I need to talk about how seeing Thunderbolts* reminded me to go back to the 2021 release and deepen my love for Yelena Belova further. SPOILERS are ahead for Thunderbolts* and Black Widow. There's a lot to love about Thunderbolts* in my opinion, but the biggest highlight of the movie for me is the relationship between Yelena and her 'dad,' the Red Guardian. My favorite scene was definitely in the third act of the movie when Yelena gets honest with him about how she's been feeling really alone and having a lot of regrets about her life. In response, Red Guardian tells Yelena that when he looks at her, he 'doesn't see' her mistakes. Instead, he remembers who she was as a kid, and how she wanted to be the goalie on her childhood soccer team in order to be the 'person everyone relies on when they make a mistake.' Without that scene in the movie, I just don't think Thunderbolts* would be as good as it is. It had me thinking back to when Yelena and Red Guardian's relationship was established in Black Widow. I remember the two actors being just as funny and grounded in the 2021 movie, and yet I hadn't placed the movie high in my mind to realize this going into seeing Thunderbolts*. So I made it my mission to revisit Black Widow after seeing the latest Marvel movies. When it comes to Marvel movies in order, I had actually forgotten that the movie takes place in 2016 in the MCU timeline, two years prior to the events in Infinity War and the events of Thunderbolts* takes place a little over a decade after Black Widow (with the five-year gap of the snap in between to think about). And after seeing Black Widow again, I think the movie does a good job of establishing an older Yelena who has dealt with a lot more life and loss, and having the context of her upbringing with the Red Guardian and Melina really helped me understand her better. It was so much fun to see how the character was introduced in the movie, because Pugh very much stays true to who Yelena is between them. Oh, and it slipped my mind how quotable Yelena was in Black Widow to the point of actually stealing the thunder off of Scarlett Johansson's MCU sendoff. But the one thing that really caught me off guard is how much Yelena clearly looks up to Natasha Romanoff throughout the movie, even if she's always taking shots at her Avengers position and "posing". While I read it more as MCU banter the first time I saw it, this time I noticed how much that relationship really gives sister energy, and while Natasha kind of brushes Yelena off (as big sisters often do), Natasha means a lot to her. I realized getting to do a mission with her and reunite with their 'parents' is kind of the best thing for Yelena, because she's spent a lot of time alone. Throughout the movie, you see how, while Natasha has kind of lost her respect for her parental figures, Yelena is still attached to them. As she says in one memorable line: "It was real to me." It made me extra sad about the death of Natasha in Endgame, and how in Thunderbolts*, Yelena feels like she wants to make a difference like her sister did, but she's having problems making the transition (inwardly and outwardly). So, when I finished Black Widow, knowing that her second MCU movie ends with her becoming a new Avenger, I found it especially poignant. She still clearly feels the loss of Natasha, now she's going to get the chance to serve with the Avengers and be the person she has always looked up to: her sister! I'm not crying, you are. Disney+: from $9.99 a month w/ ad-supported planYou can stream Black Widow now as I did with a Disney+ subscription. In fact you can check out every MCU movie on Disney+, starting at $9.99 a month for its new ad-supported plan. Go ad-free and pay $15.99 a month or save 16% and pre-pay $159.99 for a Deal While the Thunderbolts* director has suggested the movie isn't a Black Widow sequel, I would argue the new Marvel film wouldn't have worked for me as well as it did if it weren't for the 2021 movie. If I hadn't seen the scene where Yelena and Red Guardian sing 'American Pie' together, I wouldn't have bought into their continued father-daughter dynamic as much, and there's a kind of twisted found family element in the Kate Shortland film that spiritually carries over into Thunderbolts*, I think. The only thing that really bummed me out after seeing Black Widow is how the movie perfectly served Thunderbolts* the chance to feature Scarlett Johansson one more time through the shame rooms created by Sentry. I think it would have been really beautiful if she had shown up for a moment and allowed Yelena to get some closure or something. But, I also understand that Johansson is hesitant to return to the MCU after her long stint, and I was kind of into the fact that Thunderbolts* wasn't packed full of cameos. Because while Yelena Belova kind of sees herself as not as good as Natasha, the fact is she's being given way more to do in the MCU already than her sister was. Sure, it was different times, but I've always felt so conflicted about how Black Widow was handled as a character. She's very much in the center of things going into Doomsday, and I love that for her, but now I'm never getting out of my mind how the character will be constantly missing her sister as she becomes a hero in her own right.

Thunderbolts Cast Compete In Cast Trivia

Buzz Feed

09-05-2025

Entertainment
Buzz Feed

Thunderbolts Cast Compete In Cast Trivia

Thunderbolts* has officially arrived, and personally, I am enjoying every single second of this cast and the return to what I love about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thunderbolts* follows Yelena, who suddenly finds herself stuck in a rut and feeling alone and isolated after working for Valentina Allegra de Fontaine for several years. When she ends up fighting alongside Bucky Barnes, John Walker, Ava Starr, Alexei, and a mysterious new guy named Bob, Yelena suddenly finds herself on an unlikely team of heroes. So, to celebrate this new entry into the MCU, BuzzFeed had the cast — Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen, and Geraldine Viswanathan — compete in a game of Cast Wars, aka a trivia game all about each other. And literally nothing about each other was off limits. Like, we started with the cast guessing what Meryl Streep told Florence she desperately wanted while filming a scene for Little Women. The cast had to guess who David's biggest celebrity crush was, and spoiler, he got to work with her every single day on the set of Stranger Things. *cough* Winona Ryder *cough* And we tested their knowledge on one of Julia Louis-Dreyfus's iconic Veep quotes about a croissant because, let's be honest, we all need more Selina Meyer in our lives. And they even learned new things about each other, like the fact that Sebastian starred in Gossip Girl or that Geraldine was gifted a purse by Taylor Swift. Basically, they are my new favorite cast, and I cannot wait to go watch Thunderbolts* again. You can watch their full Cast Wars video below: And be sure to watch Thunderbolts*, which is in theaters now!

Geek Tyrant

08-05-2025

Entertainment
Geek Tyrant

A Deleted THUNDERBOLTS* Scene Would've Reignited The HAWKEYE Fallout — GeekTyrant

While Thunderbolts* continues to storm through theaters, co-screenwriter Eric Pearson recently revealed that an early draft of the film nearly gave fans a direct continuation of Yelena Belova's unresolved beef with Clint Barton, a thread left hanging since Hawkeye on Disney+. If you'll recall, the Black Widow post-credits scene set Yelena (Florence Pugh) on a collision course with Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), thanks to a manipulative nudge from Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). She essentially blamed Barton for Natasha Romanoff's death and pointed Yelena at him like a loaded weapon. Fast-forward to Hawkeye , and that mission ended in a rooftop fight and an emotional truth bomb, with Yelena ultimately sparing Barton and walking away from the assignment. But what happened after that? According to Pearson, the original script for Thunderbolts* had an answer. '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.' Pearson says he loved the scene because it showed just how calculating Val can be, which is a trait fans have only seen in glimpses. In this version, Yelena directly calls her out for manipulating her into nearly killing her sister's best friend. And Val? She doesn't deny it. She says in the scene: '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.' That chillingly casual brush-off from Val would've added a bit more texture to their tense relationship and to Val's shady leadership style. But Pearson explained that the sequence just didn't fit the evolving structure of the movie, even though it packed an emotional punch. The exchange would've also served as a major turning point for Yelena. According to Pearson, the confrontation ended with her voicing dissatisfaction about the direction of her life and expressing a desire to do something more meaningful. While that exact version of the moment didn't make the final cut, some of the concept did survive. In the finished film, Yelena still seeks change. After agreeing to a mission, she asks Val for something with more visibility, a 'public facing' role. Val obliges… but with a cruel twist as behind the scenes, she's orchestrating a kill-or-be-killed scenario for her operatives, including Yelena. Source: THR

Express Tribune

07-05-2025

Entertainment
Express Tribune

Defeating inner villains

For someone who had sworn off Marvel films (minus some reluctant watches every now and then), I wasn't sure what to expect as I walked into the theatre to watch Thunderbolts*. To tell the truth, I was busy juggling a cup of soft drink and a tipping bucket of popcorn to do a last-minute rundown on my expectations. It didn't help that my brother and I had just missed Marvel's fanfare intro while we had yet to find our seats in the dark. I blame his consistent underestimation of his tardiness. But we made it. Just in time to see Yelena Belova - who we'd first met during a Covid-friendly, indoor screening of Black Widow — in the middle of two death-dealing missions. I'll avoid sharing the first one to curb spoilers. The second, and arguably the harder one, was her long-awaited challenge to please a tough crowd of MCU fans. Here's where I'll offer mild spoilers: Yelena succeeded, and so did her team of misfits. 'Misfits' is, perhaps, a loose term. 'Companions' seems more fitting, more grounded in what the film is all about - sticking together. For some, the idea of misunderstood anti-heroes triggers an automatic eye roll, since complexity seems to be out of fashion in a simple-minded, brainrotted era of human existence. But that is exactly where the appeal of this film lies. We've seen these characters before. Better yet, we've seen them fail. We've seen them at their worst. So how do they bounce back, if at all? Better than the retirees? Before Thunderbolts* could even influence my judgements, the superhero tentpole took me on a nostalgic trip. It reminded me of my long-running qualms about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hot and maybe indigestible take, but our original Avengers hardly felt like friends, or even a squad united by shared motivations safe for saving the world. Maybe that's a good-enough reason to team up for some, but it is hardly sufficient to keep a motley crew tied together. Aside from some signature MCU humour and the only woman in the team suggestively approaching almost every man, there were no emotional strings connecting all six of the original Avengers. Some might argue that it was never smooth-sailing for our heroes, that we got a literal civil war out of it. But if one can't imagine a weighty conversation between Natasha and Thor, then that begs the question of why we even got a scene of a bench being hurled into oblivion in Avengers: Endgame. So here's what Thunderbolts* does better. It didn't need to shoehorn friendship into a group that only had space for hostility. Boasting an accidental lineup of defective heroes, it never set out to create a billboard-friendly dream team - one that looked so good as a concept that it outranked futile things like a meaningful connection or a common purpose. No, Thunderbolts* nurtures imperfection like it's a battle scar, something that's not worth romanticising but sticks with you as a reminder of your pain anyway. It is a film about flawed people who make flawed choices that land them in flawed circumstances. Instead of role models, it gives you weapons learning to become human again. But weapons fire bullets, draw blood, and rein carnage. They may be used in defense, but they don't promise kindness. That's the point of Thunderbolts*; you can't expect safety until the magazine is empty, until everything is out. And that's exactly what our anti-heroes struggle with: letting go. This failure, ironically, is what also brings them closer. Like a forced group therapy session. Because we all have to face our monsters eventually. And no, Avengers: Endgame, a slap over a panic attack is not the way to set off a massacre survivor's healing process. Thunderbolts* fixes that, along with many other things. In fact, the film is a star-speckled bandage over an MCU fan's bruising, superhero-loving heart. And the best part is, it's an easy fix. No over-complicated plotlines or supervillains, no extravagant invasions from space, just a battle of the mind. A war to win back one's lost self-preservation. A story for everyone You know a superhero film has done a good job when you can't pick a highlight. The narrative of Thunderbolts* unravels as gracefully as it is weaved, letting the audience grasp the twists of each thread. It is especially a treat if you've seen all those threads on different dresses before. Each character represents an aspect of a mental low that hits where it hurts. There's Florence Pugh's Yelena, who is a crushing personification of denial and its eventual outburst. Then there's her father, David Harbour's Alexei Shostakov, who buries his emotions much like his daughter, though under the dregs of long-lost glory. If you remember the fate of Hannah John-Kamen's Ava Starr in Ant-Man and the Wasp, you'd already be devastated to learn from the trailer alone that she's back to doing what she was running from, being a heart-rending reminder of how cruel a relapse can be. Then there's Wyatt Russell's John Walker, who hides behind expired grandeur to ward off his self-esteem issues. And how can we forget Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, who has been a faithful reminder that broken people can indeed fix themselves if they wish to regain stolen control? In contrast, Lewis Pullman's standout debut as Robert "Bob" Reynolds is a show-stealer in its own right for portraying emotional alienation for what it is - an abyss that lures the sufferer away from the point of return. With the characters mapped out like this, it's easy to trace the lines that connect them all and even easier to see where they intersect. They shouldn't work together, they don't even want to, but they can't deny that they see each other for what they are. And maybe, as they navigate these uncomfortable reflections, they finally put an end to the battles they've been fighting the longest. While Thunderbolts* had many expectations to live up to, it ended up setting a precedent for future MCU films. It proved that a worthwhile superhero film need not strive for higher than it can deliver. Sometimes, the answer is not to think outside the box, but to look within and see what it's been hiding. That may as well be the untapped potential of superhumans who are trying to save themselves before they can save the world.

Which "Thunderbolts" Character Are You Most Like?