Kevin Feige revealed how Yelena Belova will carry on the legacy of the titular assassin after Black Widow. Taking place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Natasha Romanoff's solo film finds her disconnected from the Avengers and reuniting with the pseudo-family from her childhood. In Budapest, Nat runs into Florence Pugh's Yelena, a sister-by-proxy who also went through training at the Red Room. Natasha enlists Yelena to help her take down General Dreykov and Taskmaster, confronting the ghosts of their past and settling scores they thought had already been dealt with.

Serving as both a swan song for Scarlett Johansson and an origin story for Pugh's character, Black Widow slyly says goodbye to Natasha and looks ahead to Yelena's future in the MCU. The post-credits scene of the film jumps ahead in time to a post-Endgame world, with Yelena visiting Natasha's grave. The scene sets up Yelena's next appearance in the MCU - the Disney+ series Hawkeye. Julia Louis Dreyfus' Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine also makes an appearance, sending Pugh's character after Clint Barton and pinning Natasha's death on the bow-and-arrow slinging Avenger.

Related: Black Widow: Where Yelena & Red Guardian Are During Infinity War & Endgame

It's clear that Black Widow is setting up Yelena's future as the next super assassin in the MCU and Marvel head Kevin Feige revealed just how she will be carrying on Natasha's legacy. During a Black Widow watch party on Marvel's Twitter, Feige said Yelena will continue to carry the torch for Natasha's legacy, but that she will do it on her own terms. The studio head says that Yelena will be "her own character" rather than just a retread of Johansson's now-ubiquitous performance as the Russian assassin. Check out his thoughts below:

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It was already clear from Black Widow that Yelena is a foil for Natasha and that the pair have a different outlook on life. Natasha begins the film as unsentimental towards her former family while Yelena has more of an emotional association with the complicated dynamic. Similarly, Yelena seems to have spent much more time in the Red Room than Natasha, something that is sure to alter their outlooks on life. How that will continue for Yelena going forward will only complicate things further.

Yelena's next appearance will see her in an adversarial position to Clint Barton, Natasha's former partner and one of her closest friends. The upcoming Hawkeye series will likely see a further transformation of the character, but whether or not Clint will make it out alive is on everyone's minds. He, too, will be passing down the torch to Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop and the Disney+ series could prove to be his own swan song in the MCU. Black Widow was clearly only the beginning for Yelena and while her future is starting to take shape, there's still plenty of mystery surrounding the character.

More: Black Widow's Hawkeye & Yelena Belova's Future Set Up

Source: Kevin Feige