The Black Widow 2020 movie, while being a prequel, is actually a very important movie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to move forward. It would be the first movie to kick start the fourth phase, post Infinity Saga Era. As we all know, each movie in a phase of Marvel plays a part in crafting the grand overall story and Black Widow, being the first movie of the phase, should be extra important.
However, there are a lot of questions about how Marvel would be able to do it, as the movie is a prequel and the main character is now dead. In this article, we would list out for major ways that Black Widow can impact the MCU's future.
1 - Yelena Belova might become the new Black Widow
The original incarnation of a hero passing the torch to the second generation has always been a pretty popular event in comic book storytelling, despite rarely happen in animated or real movies. We have already seen that in the MCU with Hank Pym training Scott Lang for the role of the Ant-Man. With Natasha Romanoff perished in canon, it looks like the mantle of Black Widow would be taken up by someone else going forward. From what we can gather from trailers, it is very likely to be Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova.
In the comics, Yelena is trained to inherit the Black Widow title, and it certainly looks like the movie version is going to do the same thing. Due to the fact that Yelena trained at the same place and has the same set of skills with the first Black Widow - the overall spy/assassin gist of the character moving forward would remain intact.
2 - More about the history of the MCU - or maybe even a Hulk solo movie
Since her first introduction in Iron Man 2, Black Widow has been consistently shown to be one of the more elusive heroes in the MCU, with her backstory provided only in small doses over various dialogues in multiple movies. In her own solo movie, we can expect that a lot of those teaser dialogues to be expanded upon - we would learn more about her life before she became an Avenger, and maybe even details related to other characters. Black Widow is one of the first characters in the Avenger roster, and she is involved in recruiting almost all of the original lineup - in flashback sequences in her movie, various reveals might happen (an Iron man cameo by Robert Downey Jr. is already confirmed).
In this new movie, it is revealed that Natasha would have some history with Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, a villain that often appears in Hulk's origin stories (the guy was part of the Sokovia/Civil War storyline as well). Thaddeus Ross is also the Red Hulk (a version of Hulk with a different set of power) in the comics, but this is likely not going to be the case in the MCU.
3 - Taskmaster might be a recurring villain
Overall, Taskmaster is one of the cooler villains with an ability to mimic the fighting style/method of other heroes. His "copy ability" photographic reflexes have made the guy one of the best fighters in the Marvel Universe - and it would be a shame to have the guy removed after his first appearance. The "smaller-scale" power is also pretty refreshing and new, as in previous Marvel movies, most villains have world-breaking powers. A badass "supernormal" villain like Taskmaster would be a great addition to this phase and beyond.
Admittedly, given the track record of Marvel Studios, it is very likely that this guy would be a one-off villain and killed after the first appearance. This is actually rather bad for long term developments, as one of the weakest parts in the Infinity War duology is Thanos' group of minor henchmen - they pretty much exist to be defeated and killed by the heroes. There is a lot about Taskmaster that we don't know, even the identity of the actor who's playing the character.
4 - Hawkeye backstory - and maybe a later solo movie
When the Avengers first assembled, they were a rag-tag band of random people united only by necessity - except for two characters, Black Widow and Hawkeye. It was eventually unveiled later on in the movie that these two have a lot of history together. This eventually accumulates and built up to create an awesome climax between them in Avengers: Endgame - Black Widow's struggle to become the one to die for the Soul Stone is one of the most intense and heartbreaking parts of the movie. With the requirement of Vormir being "you have to sacrifice the person you love most", people probably have realized the romantic tension between them.
With Hawkeye being the only original Avenger who hasn't had a solo movie, it is very likely that Black Widow's eventual success would lead to a prequel movie for Hawkeye down the line. It can also tie into the upcoming Hawkeye show that is going to air on Disney Plus as well. As BW 2020 is going to explore the "Red Room", their "Budapest" moment is yet to be depicted on screen - and such an important character-defining moment deserve better.
Black Widow is delayed to November 6th due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Interested in more of our posts related to this movie? Please check out this article for Robert Downey Jr.'s possible cameo and various Easter Eggs that can be found in the final trailer of the movie.