WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Marvel’s Black Widow, now playing in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access.
Sandwiched as it is between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow unfolds years before the title character’s sacrifice in Endgame. As such, there was never any expectation the prerequisite end-credits scene would tee up a sequel for Natasha Romanoff. Instead, it lays the groundwork for the future of Yelena Belova and, perhaps surprisingly, of Clint Barton.
In the process, however, the sequence raises a question: Where, precisely, does it take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Valentina Has a New Target for Yelena, But When?
Although Black Widow contains flashbacks, to the childhoods of Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) and Yelena (Florence Pugh), and then to the legendary Budapest Operation, the rest of the action plays out in 2016, presumably over a matter of days, in the immediate aftermath of Civil War. The film ends with Natasha, by now sporting the blonde bob from Infinity War, heading off in a newly acquired quinjet to help free her friends from The Raft, adding another layer to Civil War‘s final moments.
The end-credits scene then springs forward to the MCU’s present, 2023, where Yelena visits Natasha’s tombstone (it’s inscribed with the words “Sister Daughter Avenger”), which marks an empty grave. However, her quiet moment of grief is interrupted by the appearance of Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Viewers of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will, of course, recognize Valentina (“don’t call me Val”) from the fifth episode, in which she consoled the disgraced John Walker (Wyatt Russell) before promising she would be in touch. In Black Widow‘s sequence, it’s clear she’s already working with Yelena, who reminds Valentina not to bother her on holiday before demanding a pay raise. Valentina agrees, assuring Yelena she will earn one with her next target. “Maybe you’d like a shot at the man responsible for your sister’s death,” Valentina says before displaying a photo of Hawkeye.
Does the Scene Occur Before or After Falcon and Winter Soldier?
It would be difficult to pinpoint whether Valentina’s conversation with Yelena takes place before or after the meeting with Walker if it weren’t for the knowledge that Louis-Dreyfus was originally supposed to make her debut in Black Widow. That’s before COVID-19 prompted Disney to delay the film’s release three times, from the original May 1, 2020, date to, finally, July 9, 2021. Into that gap stepped Marvel’s first Disney+ series, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and, currently, Loki.
Therefore, we can safely say Valentina already had Yelena on her payroll before she reached out to the one-time Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. How long before isn’t clear.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier begins about six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame, and the Blip that returned the half of humanity after five years. (Spider-Man: Far From Home takes place about eight months after Endgame, just to make the MCU timeline a little more complicated.) Although we don’t know whether Yelena and Valentina were among the victims of the Snap, six months (give or take) would still give them enough time to forge a working relationship. After all, consider what Sharon Carter was able to accomplish in that length of time.
Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle as Mason and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff, with William Hurt as Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross and Ray Winstone as General Dreykov. The film is playing in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access.
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