There is nothing better than seeing some of the concepts that were not used in movies and TV shows, and Marvel Studios has more of those than most. Everything from costumes to set designs go through numerous renditions before settling on what will make it to screen, and a new piece of concept art from the Disney+ series of Hawkeye has revealed one of the costume designs created for Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova that didn’t make it into the series. There are many reasons why a character’s costume design can change between original development and filming, and one of the earliest looks for the returning Black Widow star gave her different appearance to that seen on screen.
Even before the series aired, Hawkeye was set up to feature Pugh’s character following the post credit scene of Black Widow. In the closing moments of Scarlett Johansson’s final time playing the first female Avenger, Pugh’s Yelena is seen by the grave of her sister Natasha and is approached by Julia Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine who tells Yelena that her sister’s death was caused by Clint Barton. With that knowledge in tow, a masked Yelena arrived in the fourth episode of the series dressed in tactical gear to participate in a rooftop standoff with Barton, Kate Bishop and Maya Lopez.
The unused design for Yelena’s return was shared on Instagram by art director/artist Josh Nizzi, and shows Yelena in tactical gear, a pair of pants with numerous pockets and a poncho in what Nizzi described as a combination of “New York wet winter and tactical gear.” As cool as the look is, it clearly was too much when the final designs rolled out, which were much more stripped back than these early looks, including an initial costume that harks back to her comic book Super-Adaptoid rigout and her finale look which ended up close to Nizzi’s design but without the poncho.
Hawkeye Brought A Closure To The Black Widow Set Up, But Not To Florence Pugh’s MCU Future
By the end of Hawkeye, Yelena has accepted that her sister chose her own fate in Avengers: Endgame, and accepts that Barton did not cause her death. While this means that the circle opened at the end of Black Widow has now been closed when it comes to Yelena’s need to avenge Natasha’s death, there is still more to come from Pugh’s assassin in the future of the MCU. While it is not yet known when Yelena will be seen again, she is heavily hinted to be still working with, or be in contact with Valentina, and that would put her in line to become part of a Thunderbolts or Dark Avengers set up in the future.
The MCU is branching out in many directions, and while there will always be a return to the intergalactic spectacle that has become the signature of Marvel’s movies and TV shows, we now also have grounded series like Hawkeye, which deal more with the Earth-based criminal world rather than Titans and Celestials of Eternals and the Infinity Saga. With the Hawkeye spinoff Echo coming in the next year or so, and Daredevil also now expected to have a big role to play in the MCU, there are plenty of chances for Yelena to make her next appearance, and it could end up coming sooner rather than later.