Marvel Studios has finally shared the first official photo from Yelena Belova's (Florence Pugh) cameo in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The film hit theaters a little over a year after Thunderbolts*, and it seems to take place between the end of that movie and its post-credits scene (14 months later). The brief cameo was a fan favorite when the movie came out, not only helping to set up Doomsday slightly but also making MCU New York feel even more connected. Luckily, a few weeks after its release, new official HD images from the movie are circulating online.
Company 3 senior colorist Tom Poole has given fans their first real look at Yelena in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, posting a full HD image from the scene on his Instagram.
It's the first picture of Pugh's cameo that anyone connected to the film's production has released. Pugh previously shared fan-made art to celebrate her Spider-Man debut.
The only previous glimpse of the sequence was a moment of Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) feet poking out of a tub (released in a post-release teaser by Sony Pictures).
The new image completes the picture, showcasing the full context of the scene. Spider-Man, mask and suit still on, stands framed in the bathhouse doorway, holding a towel, with the back of Yelena's head peaking out of the steaming blue water.
It's a fitting shot, since the bathhouse is basically her makeshift "office" in the film. Peter tracks her down there for advice, refusing to take the mask off even inside a bathhouse, and Yelena isn't exactly thrilled about it, brushing him off at first as "small potatoes" next to her New Avengers workload.
The movie calls her Black Widow more than once, giving her a new precedence within the MCU, fulfilling her destiny of truly replacing her sister Natasha (Scarlett Johansson).
Poole's post was also included as a thank-you to the crew, and a bevy of other official images. He credited director Destin Daniel Cretton with leading the production "with an empathy and encouragement that is very rare in the industry," and called cinematographer Brett Pawlak's work "beautifully shot."
One of those moments included Savage Hulk overpowering Spider-Man, the moment before Peter is about to calm the monster down, and he falls off the Department of Damage Control building.
One of the movie's most notable CGI moments is also present, when Hulk's face fills up the screen in Brand New Day, accompanied by the line: "No Banner. No girl. Only Hulk."
There's also a blue-hued moment from early in the film, when Spider-Man took on Michael Mando's Scorpion during the wintertime.
Getting back to the Hulk scene, which was without a doubt, some of the most work artists on the movie had to seemingly do, this moment shows him all webbed up by Spidey before thunderclapping.
Another memorable moment that has been shown officially online much is when Spider-Man saves MJ (Zendaya) after Jean Grey (Sadie Sink) forced her to jump off a rooftop.
From the streets of Glasgow, turned into New York City, this other shared still is as Spider-Man as it gets, hitting a familiar pose atop a car.
One of the fans' favorite shots of the film, as the runtime comes to a close, Peter Parker looks over the city, the one he promises to protect, but no longer by himself.
It's great to see more and more official images come out from Brand New Day, especially with a passionate creative team behind the scenes. It's clearly something everyone is proud of, with the movie having grossed over $2 billion worldwide, and will likely become the third-highest-grossing movie ever.
With that said, the MCU isn't even done in 2026; one of Disney's biggest movies of the year, Avengers: Doomsday, opens on December 18, with Pugh returning as Black Widow, and this time she won't just be stuck in her office.
Black Widow in Avengers: Doomsday
On December 18, Florence Pugh is part of both "Dunesday" movies, starring in Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three on the same day.
In Doomsday, fans already know she throws down with Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), who shapeshifts into Yelena herself in the first trailer.
It's clear the main MCU heroes will initially be squaring off against the old X-Men, and as Yelena's now one of the New Avengers' main leaders, this is certainly a big potato situation. Going into Doomsday, Yelena's team is also on a collision course with Sam Wilson's rival Avengers, a dispute expected to get settled quickly once their common enemy is targeted: Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
It's still unclear whether Holland factors into Doomsday at all, but if he does, the New Avengers may have found themselves a new ally. Looking ahead, Yelana's Brand New Day scene with Spider-Man also planted a seed for the future, especially with both heroes based in New York.
In theory, if she makes it through the events of Doomsday and Secret Wars, this new version of Black Widow could still be an MCU mainstay alongside the 2028 X-Men.
