Marvel Leak: Tony Stark Isn’t the Only MCU Character Returning in ‘Black Widow’
With Black Widow not releasing until next May, there seems to be a push to give away some of the potential cameos of former Marvel characters we saw during the Avengers era. At the same time, we’re not really sure Marvel wanted it known Robert Downey, Jr. would have a cameo as Tony Stark. After an audio leak of a brief BW preview at D23 Expo, Marvel had no choice but to reveal.
Now there’s another leak happening, this time with someone sneaking out a photo from the movie set. It appears another popular Marvel character will be making a cameo, though not a superhero.
What does this cameo mean for the plot? If you go by the character’s past behavior, likely a tad bit of aggression.
The leak reveals William Hurt on the ‘Black Widow’ set
You’d think something as secret as Black Widow would have tighter security on-set to withstand outsiders taking photos and leaking them online. Then again, this film isn’t quite as important as you can argue Avengers: Endgame was in the way of plot secrets.
Marvel/Disney should have known the preview trailer screened at D23 Expo would be leaked in some capacity, outside of being audio. They probably can’t stop these media leaks completely without having a massive wall of security around the entire filming area.
This particular leaked pic was taken at close range, though. It shows William Hurt hobbling along with a cane in his General “Thunderbolt” Ross makeup. His Gen. Ross character looks a tad older and weathered from when we saw him back in the Avengers movies. Nevertheless, it confirms Hurt’s character will be in the film, probably not in a pivotal role.
What makes this significant is Gen. Ross has always been known for being irascible, both in the comic books and in the films. You probably remember him berating Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark in Infinity War while still showing up to Tony’s funeral at the end of Endgame.
Will General Ross be in a post-credit scene or as part of the plot?
One thing we know about Thaddeus Ross is he unknowingly participated in the events leading to Thanos’ snap that killed trillions of people. Part of this was when Captain America protested the control of the Avengers by Ross due to the notorious Sokovia Accords.
We all remember what happened in Infinity War when Ross arrested the Avengers, then the latter escaping thanks to Cap. The relations between Ross and Avengers have clearly been tense, which makes his appearance in Black Widow appear a bit menacing.
After all, Black Widow does take place before the events of Endgame, making more aggravated scenes between Stark and Black Widow all the more possible. Or, it could be just a post-script scene of Ross to place his role in better perspective, including setting up a sequel.
At least we know Ross finally respected Stark in Endgame after seeing what the latter did to spearhead the time jump and Thanos’ death. We might still see Ross tussle with Stark in the past if they have a scene together.
Ross and Stark might not be in a scene together since Downey filmed no new footage
Considering we know the footage of Tony Stark will be unused footage from Civil War, it doesn’t make sense William Hurt would be shooting new footage of himself as Ross with Downey.
They might not be seen together and more Ross confronting Natasha Romanoff (or Yelena) in the movie’s time frame, not including during the post-credits. This might be the last time we see Gen. Ross as well, but would be interesting to see him find peace earlier with the Avengers than what we assumed.
These new cameos from former Marvel characters might become a recurring trend to offer a little more perspective on things they said or felt that didn’t make it into the Phase Three films.
