Saoirse Ronan On Being Offered ‘Black Widow’ Role Of Yelena Belova: “I Can’t See Myself Doing Marvel”

Saoirse Ronan could’ve starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in 2021’s Black Widow.

The Lady Bird star recently addressed rumors she was offered the role of Yelena Belova in the Marvel film.

During an appearance on Happy Sad Confused, host Josh Horowitz asked Ronan if she had been offered the role that ultimately was played by her Little Women co-star Florence Pugh.

“How did you hear about that?” Ronan asked Horowitz, playing coy to the rumors.

Horowitz added, “OK. I’ll take that that non-answer as an answer.” The host followed up asking Ronan if she had anything “against the Marvel stuff.”

“I can’t see myself doing Marvel,” she said. “I don’t… No, I would prefer to do Bond.”

Ronan continued, “There’s nothing wrong with [Marvel] and I think they’re brilliant films. I want to do more big movies. I’m at the point where I’ve done… I love making independent film, I really do, but to know — especially in this landscape that we’re in, in film right now — to know that a film is going to be seen is such a luxury.”

The Atonement star said that Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is something she would be interested in doing, adding, “I wanna do that! Of course I want to do that stuff. I like big shows and I want to be in a musical and I want to do all that.”

Pugh played the role of Yelena Belova in the 2021 film Black Widow, a highly trained spy and assassin who is also the adopted sister of Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff. The Oppenheimer star reprised the role in Disney+’s Haweye series and will also star in Marvel’s upcoming film Thunderbolts, set for release on May 2, 2025.