Scarlett Johansson Explains Why She Won’t Return In Avengers: Doomsday (& She’s Right)

Scarlett Johansson opens up about why she doesn’t want to return as Black Widow in Avengers: Doomsday or another future Marvel project. Speaking with Vanity Fair, the prospect of returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe was one of the topics discussed. While Johansson admitted she misses spending time with her Marvel co-stars, she realizes that Natasha Romanoff’s sacrificial death in Avengers: Endgame gave the character a perfect send off and she doesn’t want to undercut that by reprising the role. She understands the significance of Black Widow having a complete story that made a tremendous impact.

“It would be very hard for me to understand in what capacity [returning] would make sense for me, for the character that I play,” Johansson said. “I miss my buddies and really would love to be with them forever, but what works about the character is that her story is complete. I don’t want to mess with that. For fans too—it’s important for them.”

Johansson last appeared in 2021’s Black Widow, which served as an introduction to now-prominent MCU characters such as Yelena Belova and Red Guardian. The actress previously addressed the possibility of Black Widow returning earlier this year, putting the kibosh on the idea. Johansson emphasized that Natasha died to save the universe and that fans should “let her have her hero moment.”

[RELATED – Thunderbolts’ Set-Up For Avengers: Doomsday Is Good, But It Still Highlights A Major MCU Flaw]

Veteran Marvel writer Eric Pearson also feels viewers won’t see Natasha on screen again. Though he doesn’t know much about Avengers: Doomsday development, he’s echoed Johansson’s sentiments about the Black Widow character having a powerful ending that shouldn’t be retconned. Some of Johansson’s old Avengers co-stars, including Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr., remain involved with the franchise, but she’s moved on.

As one of the Original Six Avengers, Johansson’s Black Widow is a beloved MCU character and some would find it exciting to see the actress come back into the fold — even if it was just for a cameo as a Multiverse variant. However, Johansson is right to stand her ground and maintain that Natasha stays dead. If she were to ever reprise the Sacred Timeline version of Nat, that would cheapen the character’s death in Endgame. It’s hard to envision a scenario where undoing Black Widow’s selfless act to get the Soul Stone would be worthwhile. A cameo as a different version of Nat would be fun, but it sounds like Johansson isn’t very interested in something like that. That would also run the risk of being cheap, trying to capitalize on nostalgia fans have for Johansson’s performance as the character.

The MCU is an ever-expanding ongoing story that’s constantly evolving, but sometimes, it’s best for stories to have a proper ending. Even with someone like Black Widow, there’s only so much filmmakers can do with an individual character arc, plus Johansson is an in-demand talent with creative interests outside of the MCU. She was likely ready to move on and close this era of her career, so a poignant ending for her character was conceived. While it’s sad that Black Widow won’t be back, her legacy lives on through Yelena, who is one of the leaders of the New Avengers. It will likely be an emotional ride watching her follow her sister’s footsteps in Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.