Black Widow: The Simple Solution To Yelena & Hawkeye's Conflict

Black Widow pits Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), which will play out in Hawkeye, but luckily, there's a simple way to resolve their conflict. While Scarlett Johansson's MCU standalone film takes place on the heels of Captain America: Civil War, its post-credits scene effectively brings it into the current timeline. In it, a grieving Yelena visits the grave of her older sister in an unknown location when she was ambushed by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss).

Val's appearance in Black Widow sets up a couple of future narratives in the MCU. Firstly, it continues her trend of recruiting morally ambiguous characters that started in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier when she reached out to John Walker (Wyatt Russell). It's still uncertain how this will play out in the long run, but the Contessa is functioning as Phase 4's darker version of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). Secondly, the new mission to go after Clint directly leads to Yelena's appearance in Hawkeye. Val manipulates her into going after the bow and arrow-wielding Avenger by blaming him for the death of Nat.

While the Black Widow film doesn't give any indication of what Yelena's next move will be, the chances are that she will be extra motivated to take down Clint since this new mission has just become personal for her. Obviously, it's nothing but a ploy from Val as solely blaming Hawkeye for Nat's death is an oversimplification for what actually happened. Granted that her sacrifice was not only the reason why Clint is alive but also that his family is back, ultimately, she decided to give up her life for the cause in Avengers: Endgame. In any case, Yelena will be operating with the idea that Hawkeye caused Natasha's death which could end in a deadly battle between the two. Fortunately, there's an easy solution to this: all Clint has to do is recall the events of the Budapest incident to Yelena to establish and he and Nat were genuine friends.

Valentina talks to Yelena in front of Natasha grave in Black Widow

During Nat and Yelena's initial adventures in Budapest at the start of Black Widow, the Avenger revealed details about the final test in her defection. She was tasked to kill General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) by bombing a multi-level building. After that, she and Clint were immediately hunted down by law officers. It took them 10 days before they could leave the city, which involved engaging in a shootout with the Hungarian special forces and hiding in an air vent at a subway station for two days. If Hawkeye corroborates all these details, Yelena will ultimately realize that he is her sister's ally. In addition to that, Clint can also recall how he essentially saved Nat's life first when he refused to take her down and instead, recruiting her to be a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.

It's safe to assume that, ultimately, Hawkeye and Yelena can be allies. They both love Nat, and they can bond over their shared grief over her death. But before that happens, Black Widow sets up a tumultuous relationship between the pair. While there's a relatively easy fix to their conflict, the key here is for Clint to realize who Yelena is in the first place, as he may have been unaware of the family that Nat left behind.

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