Marvel Studios may have just dropped its clearest hint yet that Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova is heading into Peter Parker’s world.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige teased a possible Yelena appearance while speaking at BiliBili World in Shanghai on Saturday, July 11.
Just Jared reported that Feige’s comments immediately pointed fans toward Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Feige Said Yelena Is Coming Back Soon
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Feige told fans that Yelena will play a major role in Avengers: Doomsday, the next major Marvel crossover.
“If you’re a fan of Yelena, wait until Avengers: Doomsday. Yelena plays a big part in that,” Feige said, according to EW. “But if you don’t want to wait until then, you might see Yelena a little bit sooner in the movies.”
EW noted that the only Marvel Cinematic Universe movie scheduled to arrive before Doomsday is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which makes Pugh’s possible appearance there the obvious reading.
Pugh first played Yelena Belova in 2021’s Black Widow, where the character was introduced as Natasha Romanoff’s adoptive sister. She later appeared in Disney+’s Hawkeye before returning in Thunderbolts*.
That film ended with Yelena and the rest of the team being publicly renamed the New Avengers.
Brand New Day Is Already a Crossover Movie
EW reported that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will be joined by Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk and Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle/Punisher.
Zendaya’s MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned are also returning, while new cast members include Sadie Sink, Tramell Tillman, Liza Colón-Zayas, Eman Esfandi and Marvin Jones III.
Adding Yelena would fit the movie’s growing mix of street-level action, superpowered chaos and wider MCU connections. It would also give Pugh’s character a chance to interact with a younger hero who is starting from a much lonelier place after Spider-Man: No Way Home.
EW reported that early script material teases Peter beginning the story “completely alone” after the events that left the world without memory of his identity.
The same material suggests that living in the shadows is taking a toll on Peter. That emotional starting point gives Brand New Day a different tone from a standard superhero crossover.