One of the staples of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s solo Spider-Man movies is pairing Tom Holland’s Peter Parker with an established MCU veteran. Over the course of his series, Peter has shared the screen with Tony Stark, Nick Fury (or, rather, Talos pretending to be Nick Fury), and Doctor Strange. This tradition continues in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which features roles for the Punisher and Hulk. There’s been talk of yet another MCU fan favorite appearing in Brand New Day: Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova. The new Black Widow has yet to be seen in any marketing materials, but intriguing comments from Kevin Feige suggest she will pop up in Spider-Man.
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During his appearance at the Shanghai Expo , Feige teased Yelena’s future in the MCU. “If you’re a fan of Yelena, wait until Avengers: Doomsday, Yelena plays a big part in that,” he said. “But if you don’t want to wait until then, you might see Yelena a little bit sooner in the movies.”
Kevin Feige Basically Confirmed Yelena Belova Is in Brand New Day
Feige didn’t mention Spider-Man: Brand New Day by name, but it’s pretty clear what he’s saying here. The only Marvel movie on the schedule prior to Avengers: Doomsday is Brand New Day. So, if Yelena fans will have an opportunity to see the character in the movies “a little bit sooner” than Doomsday, logic would dictate that Yelena appears in Brand New Day. If Yelena wasn’t in Spider-Man, odds are Feige wouldn’t have said this. With only a few weeks remaining until Brand New Day hits theaters, the last thing Feige would want to do is set a false expectation for fans. Should Yelena not be in Brand New Day now, it would be severely disappointing.
That said, it’s still surprising to see Feige so openly tease Yelena’s role in Brand New Day. From the beginning, Marvel Studios has always been known for its levels of secrecy, going to extreme lengths to preserve spoilers from coming out ahead of time. Since Yelena hasn’t been featured in any of the Brand New Day trailers or TV spots, her appearance was likely being saved as a surprise for opening weekend — similar to Charlie Cox’s cameo as Matt Murdock in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Feige stopped short of revealing how Yelena fits into the Brand New Day story, but some of the mystery has been lost.
Odds are, Yelena will not have a lot of screen time in Brand New Day. If she was a main character, she probably would have popped up in a trailer or TV spot by now to set up her role. In all likelihood, she’ll appear in just a couple of scenes at most, and now fans will be trying to figure out what those could entail. Last year, one fan pitched the amusing idea of the New Avengers attempting to recruit Peter. Yelena is basically the team’s de facto leader, so she would be the one who reaches out to him. Another possibility is Yelena teaming up with Spider-Man to take down one of the many villains who will be in Brand New Day (perhaps as part of the montage sequence at the beginning). Some fans believe Sony digitally altered trailer footage to hide certain characters, so maybe Yelena was removed from some shots.
It’s also plausible Yelena could show up in a post-credits scene. Since Brand New Day is the only MCU movie before Doomsday, Marvel could opt to use a stinger or two to set up the next Avengers film. If Yelena plays a “big part” in Doomsday, it would make sense to have her appear in a post-credits scene that establishes her role in that movie. Something else to consider is that no Spider-Man actors have been confirmed for Doomsday yet. It seems highly unlikely any of the Spidey variants running around the multiverse will be absent from the conflict against Doctor Doom, so maybe Yelena will encourage Peter to join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes again.
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