Florence Pugh has appeared in two Marvel Studios films to date, 2021’s Black Widow and 2025’s Thunderbolts*. Both underperformed at the box office but garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews, bolstering Pugh’s prospects in the MCU.
The films she stars in also share a crazy statistic: Thunderbolts* and Black Widow finished within $3 million of each other at the global box office, raking in $382.4 million and $379.7 million, respectively (per The Numbers). That puts them low on the list of the MCU’s highest-grossing releases, ranking 34th and 35th out of the 37 released so far. There’s a silver lining to the otherwise disappointing numbers, because both films starred Florence Pugh. She debuted Yelena Belova in Black Widow, reprised the character in Hawkeye, and then came into her own in Thunderbolts*.
Overwhelmingly embraced by fans, Yelena Belova has earned her place as the new Black Widow. The character is depicted differently in the comics, but Pugh’s version is now fully fleshed out in the MCU. Yelena’s timeline also proves Pugh is perfect for the role; the actor is 29, roughly the same age as Yelena in Thunderbolts*. The latter was born between 1988 and 1989, which technically makes her 36 years old, but she only lived 31 years because of the five-year Blip caused by Thanos.
Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes Were Fated to Meet in the MCU
Yelena has one of the most compelling redemption arcs in the MCU. Introduced as a broken character, her story mirrored Bucky Barnes’ from the get-go. Their pairing in Thunderbolts* confirmed that, both still burdened with pasts they’ve yet to let go. However, Bucky seemed to have moved on, while Yelena is far from restored. In an interview with Variety, Pugh said she’s still optimistic about her character’s future.
“I hope that she’s happy now. I hope that she feels fulfilled, like she has purpose,” she mused. “And I hope that we get to see some of her light and her charm and her color again, because I loved playing that before.” Black Widow did have plenty of light moments despite its overall somber tone. It was a bleak epilogue for Natasha Romanoff, who was already confirmed dead in the MCU. If anything, the film at least built up and teased Yelena as the next Black Widow.
Pugh owned the part by pulling a once-in-a-lifetime stunt in Thunderbolts*. That film’s opening scene saw Yelena doing a free-fall jump from a skyscraper roof, and Pugh insisted on doing her own stunt work. “I wanted to do that stunt because I knew that it meant that we all got to do it. Like, yes, I got to jump off the second-tallest building in the world, but so did we all,” she recalled.
Pugh is set to reprise the role in Marvel Zombies and Avengers: Doomsday. She’s ecstatic at the thought of working alongside the MCU’s larger ensemble. “100%! Oh, god, there’s too many people in it!” she asserted. “Pedro Pascal, obviously, always and forever. Paul Rudd, yes, so funny. Genuinely, the idea that all of those people are going to be in the same movie is nutso sauce.”
Black Widow and Thunderbolts* are streaming on Disney+. Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on Dec. 18, 2026.
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