This article contains spoilers for Black Widow.
Now that Natasha’s journey has ended and fans have gotten to see her story finish playing out on screen, the question of whether or not someone else should take on the Black Widow mantle has been circulating. Natasha’s adoptive sister, Yelena, was introduced during the Black Widow film and it appears as if she is the only logical choice for Natasha’s successor.
Yelena has gone through the same training as Natasha, and the tussle they had during their reunion in Black Widow proves that they are evenly matched in strength. Yelena was the only Widow to have ever surpassed Natasha during Red Room training in the Marvel Comics, and she’s just as lethal in the film. Yelena has had an equally difficult upbringing as her sister, and her extra time working as an assassin has made her twice as determined to protect the freedom of innocent young women.
During the Black Widow film, Yelena didn't seem proud of the fact that she used to be a killer and she expressed her regret over murdering the woman who freed her from the Red Room’s mind control. As of right now, her biggest desire is to make her own choices and exercise her free will now that she is free of Dreykov’s influence, but she might have just traded one bad guy for another.
The post-credits scene showed The Falcon and the Winter Soldier character, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, bringing news to Yelena about Clint Barton. According to this scene, Yelena began working for Valentina sometime after the events of the Black Widow movie, though it's unclear what Yelena has been doing for her. Valentina didn't make her intentions very clear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, so it's hard to tell what her role in the MCU will be moving forward. She did, however, explicitly tell Yelena that Clint Barton was responsible for Natasha’s death. This is obviously an attempt to get Yelena to go after Clint, and perhaps take his life for some unknown reason.
Valentina worked with Hydra in the Marvel Comics, so perhaps she's also working with them in the MCU and is trying to take down the remaining Avengers. Given Yelena’s respect for Natasha and her work, it's hard to believe that she would knowingly offer her services to a terrorist organization that her sister worked to destroy along with Captain America in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Once Yelena finds out what really happened on Vormir, it should become obvious to her that Clint misses Natasha as much as she does, because they both saw Natasha as family. Clint could also be the key to showing Yelena that Valentina isn't who she says she is and that she's been fighting on the wrong side of things.
If Yelena were to take up the Black Widow mantle, it would give her a chance to make up for all her past wrongdoings. She already helped Natasha take down Dreykov’s Red Room and liberate dozens of innocent women who were forced into becoming murderers. By doing this, Yelena has already proven herself to be a hero and she's more than capable of making an even larger impact in the Marvel Universe.
Yelena’s future encounter with Clint will provide her a direct connection to some of the MCU’s greatest heroes, as well as her deceased sister. She already possesses the qualities that made Natasha a good hero, like selflessness and bravery and her previous training makes Yelena the only reasonable choice for becoming the next Black Widow. Yelena’s respect for and close relationship with Natasha runs deep because she views Natasha as part of the only real family she ever had.
This means that becoming Black Widow would hold a great deal of significance for her because she wouldn't try to erase Natasha’s legacy and reap the benefits of fame and glory the way John Walker did as Captain America in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Becoming Black Widow would give Yelena a shot at keeping the memory of Natasha alive while continuing the work she did to save innocent people.
As soon as Black Widow was released, fans didn’t hesitate to take to social media and express their love for Yelena’s character. Scarlett Johansson has also publicly expressed her feelings about Florence Pugh’s Yelena taking on the Black Widow mantle now that Natasha’s story is over, and she seems to be in agreement that Yelena is the obvious choice. With so much unexplored backstory and untapped potential, Yelena’s future in the MCU is looking bright.
Yelena’s expected appearance in Hawkeye later this year should deepen her character arc and continue setting her up to be one of Marvel’s next great heroes. Hopefully, she can find an ally in Natasha’s former best friend and take comfort in the fact that her sister died a true hero’s death.