Thunderbolts: Why Prominent Black Widow Character Didn’t Return

Thunderbolts is one of the latest masterpieces of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 5. It features a collection of characters from previous movies and series. They come together to stop a threat unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. And in the end, they become Earth’s newest assembly of superheroes.

Surprisingly, a decent amount of characters from Black Widow reappear in this film. One character, however, didn’t get the chance to make a comeback. Want to find out who it was and why they were left out?

How the Thunderbolts Became Heroes

Thunderbolts primarily focuses on Yelena Belova, the adopted sister of the late Natasha Romanoff. Yelena has been under the employment of CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. And her recent mission involved destroying a laboratory connecting her employer to an ‘unethical’ project. Yelena’s soon dispatched to a facility in Utah where she encounters others. The collection includes John Walker/U.S. Agent, Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster, and Ava Starr/Ghost.

A fight ensues, resulting in Taskmaster’s death and Yelena discovering an amnesiac man named Bob. De Fontaine attempts to eliminate them, but the group escapes thanks to Bob. Afterward, Bob demonstrates unexpected superpowers before de Fontaine captures him. She intends to turn him into a superhero and save herself from imminent Federal impeachment. Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian eventually joins Yelena, Walker, and Ava, dubbing them the Thunderbolts.

Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier captures them and then joins their mission to rescue Bob. They confront de Fontaine, who’s turned him into a ‘superhero’ named Sentry. Later, Bob transforms into the Void, a shadow who traps people in their worst memories. The Thunderbolts enter the Void’s dark dimension to help Bob combat his dark half. Following that, de Fontaine publicly introduces the team as the New Avengers.

The Character Who Didn’t Return

Thunderbolts brought back a majority of the prominent characters from the MCU film, Black Widow. Barring Natasha for obvious reasons, one individual was left out – Melina Vostokoff. Melina was the mother figure and mentor to Yelena and Natasha during their youth. She also joined them in taking out Taskmaster, her father, and the Red Room.

There’s currently no definitive reason why Melina wasn’t in Thunderbolts. The only possible explanations are that her story was complete or her inclusion wasn’t necessary. There are no current plans to include her in any upcoming Marvel movie or series. Nevertheless, there’s always the chance she will return in a future project.

Final Thoughts

I’m somewhat sad that we didn’t get to have Melina in Thunderbolts. We could’ve gotten so many cute moments between her and Yelena and/or Alexei. You could argue the studio didn’t want two Black Widow-esque characters on the same team. Yet U.S. Agent and Red Guardian are Captain America variants, so that idea’s a dud. Still, Thunderbolts is a great movie and one of the best in Phase 5.

I’m confident Melina could return in a future Marvel film or show. The MCU has a habit of bringing secondary characters and giving them proper comebacks. But we can only wait and see if my assumption comes true.