Black Widow Star Scarlett Johansson Has A Blunt Response To Marvel Return Rumors

Based on the fact that her character Natasha Romanoff — also known as the Black Widow — very obviously died in 2019's epic "Avengers: Endgame," you would think that, at this point, Scarlett Johansson would stop getting asked about a potential return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You would be wrong, though, especially considering the fact that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the cinematic universe despite the fact that Tony Stark also died in "Endgame." With Downey Jr. set to play Doctor Doom in "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Avengers: Secret Wars," which are slated to release in 2026 and 2027 as of this writing, it's actually not surprising that people are bugging Johansson to return as Natasha. But as the actor clarified in a profile for InStyle, Natasha Romanoff is very most sincerely dead.

Speaking to interview Jason Sheeler for the magazine in March 2025, Johansson was blunt about the idea of coming back to the MCU. "Natasha is dead. She is dead. She's dead. Okay?" Johansson told Sheeler, saying fans keep pushing back on this apparently immutable fact. "They just don't want to believe it. They're like, 'But she could come back!' Look, I think the balance of the entire universe is held in her hand. We're going to have to let it go. She saved the world. Let her have her hero moment."

Narasha Romanoff did, it should be said, appear in her only standalone film, "Black Widow," two years after "Avengers: Endgame" hit theaters, but unless Johansson is working overtime to fulfill the conditions of an NDA, we should probably take her at her word. Not to mention, the fact that Johansson sued the House of Mouse over the streaming release of "Black Widow" doesn't bode well for her future with Marvel (which, as we all know, is owned by Disney). Let's backtrack, though. How did Natasha close out her story in "Endgame?"

Let's rewind to 2019, when the Marvel Cinematic Universe was still arguably in its prime and we didn't know what the novel coronavirus was just yet. In May of that year, "Avengers: Endgame" completed the story of its predecessor, 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War," the conclusion of which saw a world hobbled and horrified by Thanos' (Josh Brolin) successful plan to use the Infinity Gauntlet to "snap" half of all living beings out of existence. Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff is one of the survivors, and alongside some other surviving Avengers, she figures out a potential way to undo Thanos' actions. After successfully recruiting Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) — whose entire family disappeared in "The Snap" — and building a makeshift time machine, the Avengers set out to travel through time and snag all the Infinity Stones before Thanos can do it himself.

Natasha and Clint travel together to Vormir to get the Soul Stone, but when they arrive, the Stone's protector Red Skull (Ross Marquand) reveals that a sacrifice must be made. Clint tries to give his own life for the stone, but Natasha beats him to the punch, flinging herself off of a steep cliff so that the Stone presents itself to a grieving Clint. The decision to let Natasha sacrifice herself in this way definitely felt ... frustrating, to say the least, particularly because the "reasoning" given centered around the fact that Clint had a family and Natasha didn't. It could certainly be argued that this was the most selfless move that Natasha could have possibly made in the moment, knowing that her death would ultimately protect the entire universe from Thanos and his actions. Either way, we see Natasha's dead body, and a funeral is held for her after the remaining Avengers defeat Thanos for good (which only happens because Tony Stark also sacrifices his own life by snapping the Infinity Gauntlet himself). Unless there's another Natasha variant running around, Johansson is probably telling the truth.

The same year that "Avengers: Endgame" released, Scarlett Johansson also made an uncredited cameo appearance in "Captain Marvel" and, incredibly, picked up two Oscar nods at the same ceremony (one for her lead role in "Marriage Story" and another for her supporting turn in "Jojo Rabbit"). As mentioned earlier, it was only later that she led Natasha's too-late solo movie "Black Widow" in 2021. That film also introduced Florence Pugh as Natasha's adopted sister Yelena Belova, who's shown mourning her in the movie's post-credits scene. (Chronologically, "Black Widow" takes place after "Captain America: Civil War" but before "Avengers: Infinity War.")

Since wrapping up her time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Johansson has returned with eclectic projects like "Asteroid City," Wes Anderson's fantastical and extraterrestrial ensemble movie that released in 2023, and the 2024 romantic comedy "Fly Me to the Moon," which casts Johansson as an advertising executive alongside Channing Tatum's Kennedy Space Center launch director. And though she's not set to appear in the upcoming MCU ensemble film "Thunderbolts*," she is producing the project, which features Yelena as a lead character as she presumably picks up her late sister's mantle. Johansson is also going to return to the blockbuster realm with "Jurassic World Rebirth," a standalone sequel to "Jurassic World Dominion" that's set to hit theaters on July 2, 2025. Add in yet another Anderson project (the spy thriller "The Phoenician Scheme") and Johansson's feature directorial debut "Eleanor the Great," and it's fair to say she's very busy ... so honestly, she probably doesn't even have a spare moment to consider playing Natasha Romanoff again.