Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2

According to Scarlett Johansson, Natasha Romanoff Is Definitively Dead. Is She Though?

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While promoting her sea of movies coming out, Scarlett Johansson took to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to talk about the pretty sealed fate of Natasha Romanoff. With a Black Widow movie on the horizon, Fallon wanted to talk about his excitement for the character and what it meant since she met her maker in Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame.

I’m one of those holding out hope for Earth-1610’s Black Widow and Iron Man to fly onto the scene in the next team-up movie, but if Johansson has anything to say about it, she has her closure, and that’s enough for her. (Not for me, but whatever, I guess.)

Talking to Fallon, Johansson said, “It was honestly … it brought a closure to me that I needed because I was kinda wiped out after that last one,” which is very diplomatic and the truth. But then she went on to say, “death’s pretty certain, right?” doubling down multiple times throughout the interview to confirm that she, herself, thinks that Natasha is dead.

Here’s the thing: It’s very telling that Johansson knew of the multiverse theories and that she didn’t exactly shut them down. Saying, “But maybe my character exists in an alternate universe? But no, I think death is a final thing,” she seemed to know something of the multiverse that no one has really brought up before. Why? Well, because that would give away a lot of what Marvel could have planned, but then again, dissecting Scarlett Johansson’s quote makes me feel like I’m a conspiracy theorist … and maybe I am.

More importantly, it says something that Marvel is already laying the seeds for multiverse rumors. (If I’ve learned anything about Marvel throughout the years, it’s that they have their hands in every single thing their stars say.) So sure, Johansson and Downey (the two who are very much dead in the Earth-616 realm of the MCU) have made it clear that they think their characters are done, but also … that’s what they want you to think.

Downey may have said he “hung up his jersey,” and this interview makes it seem like it would take a lot for Johansson to return to playing Natasha, but also when has Marvel ever let information get released without a reason? Putting the seeds in our heads about the multiverse seems very practical and like they want us to be thinking about it, and if this was before Spider-Man: Far From Home, I would have said fine, but now that the movie has passed? That makes me think there may still be a multiverse out there to learn from.

It also helps that the next Doctor Strange movie is titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That has to mean that there is some connection, right? And you know who can help them find the multiverse?

The truth of the matter is that we don’t know what’s going to happen. I feel like, with the success that Sony had with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, we’ll probably see an introduction into the idea of a multiverse sooner rather than later, and maybe that introduction can lead to some of our favorite characters from the past reappearing.

That being said, who knows? It seems as if Johansson has her closure and is okay with hanging up her red wig, but I’ll sit in my conspiracy theories until I’m on my deathbed.

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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Rachel Leishman
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Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.