During a Black Widow watch party on Monday night, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige fielded live questions about the movie from fans on Twitter, and naturally, one of those questions was about Yelena (Florence Pugh)’s vest. While it was the source of some pocket-based humor, eagle-eyed Marvel fans immediately recognized that it’s the same vest that Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) wears in Avengers: Infinity War while she’s on the run with Captain America following the events of Captain America: Civil War.
When a fan asked Feige “how long ago” he and the filmmakers decided to use the vest to connect Black Widow to Infinity War, the Marvel Studio head admitted the idea arrived very early in the development process.
“The vest was an early idea to tie Yelena and Natasha stories together beyond this film and create a surprising emotional response when viewing Infinity War again,” Feige tweeted from the official Marvel account. “It’s a cool vest. A lot of pockets.”
The vest was an early idea to tie Yelena and Natasha stories together beyond this film and create a surprising emotional response when viewing Infinity War again. It’s a cool vest. A lot of pockets. -KF #BlackWidowWatchParty https://t.co/KFFwH2hO4Y
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 20, 2021
Considering Black Widow takes place between Civil War and Infinity War, the film had to carefully thread the needle when it comes to continuity, and the vest was an elegant approach to that problem. Director Cate Shortland also recently praised Feige for not going the easy route and stuffing the film full of MCU cameos. In fact, there’s none.
“We didn’t want it to feel like [Black Widow] needs the support,” Shortland said. “We want her to stand alone. And she does.”