The post-credit scene connecting Hawkeye and Black Widow was not only kept secret from the public, but also from Hawkeye’s writing staff. Yelena (Florence Pugh) was introduced in Black Widow, and her appearance in the movie’s post-credit scene sets up her later appearance in the Hawkeye TV series. Black Widow gives a fuller backstory to the notoriously secretive Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson). It shows the trauma she experienced throughout her life and explores her relationship with her faux family, especially her connection with her sister, Yelena.

Hawkeye premiered on Disney+ on November 24, bringing new characters into the MCU. The series continues Clint Barton’s (Jeremy Renner) storyline after Avengers: Endgame, in which he made many enemies under the persona of Ronin. He reluctantly teams up with Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) after she unintentionally associates herself with Ronin and his past enemies. In the most recent episode of Hawkeye, “Partners, Am I Right?”, Yelena’s storyline is picked up again after her last appearance in Black Widow.

Related: Black Widow Writer Felt Guilt Over [SPOILER] In Post-Credits Scene

In an interview with THR, Hawkeye’s head writer Jonathan Igla speaks about the hurdles put in place while trying to include Yelena in the series. Igla had already fought for Yelena’s involvement before the release of Black Widow, so the writers were already aware that Florence Pugh was part of the cast. However, Igla was instructed to withhold some information from his staff. After being informed about Black Widow’s post-credit scene, Kevin Feige instructed Igla to keep it to himself. He goes on to speak about having some complicated feelings about keeping secrets from the other writers:

"There was a length of time where I wasn’t supposed to share it with the rest of the writing staff. There were a handful of things like that, which was challenging. I did my best. I like to think that I’m an honest broker and if somebody tells me not to share something, even if I think, ‘Well the writing staff really needs to know this,’ then I’m just going to trust their process… I kept it under my hat for a while."

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

The full gravity of Black Widow’s end credit scene, and what that meant for Yelena, was also kept from the staff working on the movie. Eric Pearson, who was tasked with writing the scene, had to write it without any context for what was to happen next. Pearson was left feeling guilty over it, hoping that he wasn’t “screwing over” whoever was writing the next scene, although Jonathan Igla tries to relieve him of any guilt as Igla feels that the scene properly supports Yelena’s storyline in Hawkeye.

Marvel has a long history of keeping a close grip on all of its production secrets, including for Hawkeye. The most famous example of this is with Avengers: Infinity War, where the actors were given fake scripts and made to film scenes that were never intended to be part of the movie. This was all done for the sake of secrecy, and to avoid leaks at all costs. However, this lack of trust in those involved in the projects can have detrimental effects on the final product. While audiences are less likely to have these movies and TV shows spoiled for them, it could be hindering the quality of the end result as it keeps the staff from writing these stories to their potential.

Next: Why Val Needs Hawkeye Dead In Her Thunderbolts Plan

Hawkeye releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.

Source: THR

Key Release Dates