Is the Black Widow movie targeting a Hawkeye cameo? Scarlett Johansson teases Budapest link

If there's one thing the MCU is known for, it's epic crossovers and cameos. So it's appropriate that Cate Shortland's Black Widow movie, while serving as a prequel to Natasha Romanoff's introduction into the shared universe, may still have some nods to Nat's future allies. We caught up with Scarlett Johansson at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend to see what teasers we could extract while we wait for the film's debut next May.

“There are things about Natasha’s past — places that Kevin Feige was willing to go — that were totally surprising to me. Then I took his ideas and sort of ran with that," Johansson told SYFY WIRE. "We’ve been developing this for a couple of years now, and it’s been layer upon layer. We get different people coming in from the Marvel Universe to enrich the character. It’s gonna be very unexpected ... It will answer a lot of questions about Natasha, where she comes from, why and how she is the way that she is ... We do get to Budapest, though."

That last bit about "Budapest" is a reference to the Black Widow's professional history with Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), which was first teased in 2012's The Avengers but, at the time, was probably more of an offhanded comment than any sort of hint at a larger story. MCU fans grabbed onto the comment, though — and now it's become such legend that it seems Natasha's solo film will be addressing the mystery.

All of this means that if this is the same "Budapest," then we may get a Hawkeye cameo in Black Widow. If so, seeing the two characters will be poignant, since we know now that Nat ends up sacrificing herself over Clint in Endgame. After the defeat of Thanos, Barton will go on to train his arrow-shooting successor, Kate Bishop, in his very own Disney+ series.

Newcomers to the MCU in this project will be played by Rachel Weisz (Melina), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), and O.T. Fagbenle (Mason). Earlier today, we reported on Weisz's cryptic comments about the presence of more than one Red Room-trained Black Widow in the film.

"There are three incredibly textured, powerful roles for women at the center of the story," Weisz said during our interview with her. "They’re really great female roles."

“It’s about this amazing woman — this badass woman — who digs into her history," echoed Pugh. "And it’s about these broken, raw, wicked, powerful women. They are equal, they fight in the same way, they are compatible, and they are healing in the same way."

Black Widow premieres in theaters everywhere May 1, 2020. Trust us, there ain't gonna be anything "itsy bitsy" about this highly anticipated, years-in-the-making cinematic event when it finally arrives in less than 10 months.