With original Avenger and MCU staple, Natasha Romanoff now dead, you would be justified in thinking that the upcoming prequel, Black Widow, would be Scarlett Johansson's last outing as the beloved assassin. Well, according to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige this may not be the case after all. When asked recently whether the character could return to the MCU, Feige coyly suggested that future adventures for Black Widow have not been ruled out.

"'Maybe there will be more down the road' - [is the answer] comics have taught us. Anything could be the answer to that question."

While this is far from confirmation that Scarlet Johansson's time in the MCU has not ended as many fans had expected, Kevin Feigewas quick to refer to the idea that, in comics, characters are never really gone forever. Falling down a chasm to their deaths is nothing for these guys, with Marvel heroes and villains coming back from much, much worse.

Feige's comments echo those of Black Widow director Cate Shortland, who recently played the same somewhat guarded game when asked whether audiences would ever see a sequel. "I think these girls have got a lot of asses still to kick," Shortland replied, no doubt with a wink.

Directed by Shortland from a screenplay by Eric Pearson, and starring Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz, Black Widow finds Natasha Romanoff forced to confront the darker parts of her famous ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

While Johansson has not officially stated that her time as Black Widow is finished, the actress did recently bid farewell to the character, believing that her solo adventure has come at the right time.

"Honestly, I feel like it's always, it feels great to leave a party when it's still raging and I think that this film Black Widow feels very much like it's alive and fresh and powerful and I feel really pleased with it. I feel really happy with the work that we've done for this decade of time and, you know, it's bitter sweet to say, 'Goodbye,' but if you love something, you need to set it free!"

So, the question remains, how would Natasha Romanoff be resurrected should that be the decision that Marvel makes? Well, as comics have proven, death is never the end for the inhabitants of a comic book universe, and with the Marvel Cinematic Universe gearing up to enter the madness of the multiverse, combined with all manner of other mysticism and cosmic meddling that is about to be unleashed, it wouldn't prove too difficult to bring Black Widow back from the dead.

After being delayed multiple times amid the ongoing global situation, Black Widow is now scheduled to be released in the United States on July 9th, 2021, simultaneously in theaters and through Disney+ with Premier Access. It will be the first installment in Marvel's Phase Four of the MCU. This story comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.