Black Widow will be dealing with the heavy subject matter of "the abuse of women" according to star Florence Pugh.
"One of the most interesting things about the film is how far Cate went with it," Pugh told Total Film. "This film is about the abuse of women. It’s about how they get involuntary hysterectomies by the age of eight. It’s about girls who are stolen from around the world. It’s so painful, and it’s so important."
"Part of the excitement for me is that women and girls from around the world are going to see this, and are going to see an abuse story that really was challenged by its own victims," Pugh continued. "For a Marvel film to be reaching all of those levels, it is so exciting. The best thing about that is, it’s not layered with this colour of grey. You’ll see these women strive and be strong, and they’re assassins – and yet they still need to discuss how they were abused. It’s an incredibly powerful piece."
Pugh will make her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as the character Yelena Belova in Black Widow. Like Natasha Romanoff, Belova was also trained in the Red Room to be a Black Widow assassin and is a surrogate sister figure to Romanoff.
Directed by Cate Shortland, Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle as Rick Mason and Rachel Weisz. The film is currently planned to arrive in theaters Nov. 6.