Key Takeaways

  • Black Widow got a new comic-accurate design this week, but it happened in X-Men ’97 Season 2, not in a live-action Marvel movie.
  • Scarlett Johansson has said, on the record, that she is not returning as Black Widow. Not for Avengers: Doomsday, not for anything.
  • Lake Bell voices the character in the mid-credits scene, which pulls directly from a 1990 Chris Claremont and Jim Lee comic.
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What Actually Happened

Black Widow started trending Saturday night and my first thought was the same as everyone else’s. Is Scarlett Johansson coming back? Did Marvel just drop an Avengers: Doomsday casting bomb on a random Saturday? Then I actually looked into it and no, this is better in a different way.

The new Black Widow design is from X-Men ’97 Season 2, episode 4, the Disney+ animated series that’s been quietly one of the best things Marvel has put out in years. In the mid-credits scene, Wolverine gets approached by Captain America and Black Widow, who hand him a file marked “Weapon X” and warn him he’s headed somewhere dangerous. The whole scene is a direct callback to Uncanny X-Men #268 from 1990, the Jim Lee-drawn issue where Cap and Widow first show up in Madripoor to pull Wolverine out of trouble.

Black Widow’s look here is straight off that cover. Full black jumpsuit, short cropped hair, none of the MCU red hair and tactical gear you’re used to. It’s a deep cut for anyone who grew up reading the Claremont run, and it’s exactly the kind of detail SlashFilm broke down well if you want the full comic history behind it.

Why It’s Not Scarlett Johansson

Here’s the part that’s going to disappoint some people. Lake Bell voices Black Widow in X-Men ’97, the same as she did in What If…?. Scarlett Johansson has nothing to do with this, and she’s made it pretty clear she doesn’t plan to have anything to do with Black Widow going forward either.

Johansson has said flatly she’s not returning as Black Widow for Avengers: Doomsday or any future Marvel project. Natasha Romanoff died in Endgame, Johansson got her send-off movie in 2021, and by every indication she’s treating that chapter as closed. I get it. Not every character needs a resurrection, and a clean ending is worth more than a decade of ret-cons.

So if you saw “Black Widow” trending and got your hopes up for a live-action return, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you it’s not happening. What you’re getting instead is arguably cooler if you’re a comics person: an animated series treating the source material with real respect instead of chasing a live-action reunion nobody signed off on.

What This Means Going Forward

I don’t think this closes the door on Black Widow showing up in live action eventually. Marvel recasts characters all the time, and Natasha Romanoff isn’t the only person who’s held that codename in the comics. But for right now, this is Marvel Animation doing what it’s been doing well since X-Men ’97 premiered: trusting old comic runs enough to adapt them almost panel for panel instead of inventing something safer.

It also says something about where Marvel’s creative energy is right now. The animated side is taking bigger swings than a lot of the live-action slate has lately. If you’ve been sleeping on X-Men ’97 because it’s a cartoon, this is your sign to catch up. It’s also worth a rewatch of some of the classic runs this scene is pulling from, and the original Uncanny X-Men #268 Madripoor Knights issue is the place to start if you want the original story straight from Claremont and Lee.

For more on what else Marvel’s cooking on the movie side, I already broke down that Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer a bit ago, and it’s a good reminder that the MCU’s live-action stuff and its animated stuff are on genuinely different creative levels right now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Scarlett Johansson playing Black Widow again?

No. Johansson has said she is not returning as Black Widow for Avengers: Doomsday or any other Marvel project.

What show is the new Black Widow design from?

It’s from X-Men ’97 Season 2, episode 4, streaming on Disney+, not from a live-action Marvel film.

Who voices Black Widow in X-Men ’97?

Lake Bell voices Black Widow, the same role she played in the animated series What If…?

What comic is the X-Men ’97 scene based on?

It’s based on Uncanny X-Men #268 from 1990, written by Chris Claremont with art by Jim Lee, part of the Madripoor Knights storyline.

Will Black Widow appear in Avengers: Doomsday?

There’s no confirmation of that. Johansson is not attached, and no other actor has been announced for a live-action Black Widow return.