Florence Pugh Says People in the Indie Film Industry Were Angry She Joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Over the past several years, Florence Pugh's career has only grown more spectacular. She has starred in critically praised films including "Little Women," "Midsommar," and "Fighting with My Family," to mention a few.

However, she also made an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2021's "Black Widow" as Yelena Belova, Natasha Romanoff's adoptive sister.

Pugh then played the same role in the Disney+ series "Hawkeye," where she pursued the show's title character, an archer played by Jeremy Renner. Pugh will next be seen in the film "Thunderbolts," which also stars Sebastian Stan, Harrison Ford, David Harbour, and others. But not everyone was happy about her box office triumph, as the actor claimed in a recent interview that the indie cinema business was annoyed by the fact that she had accepted a Marvel job.

“So many people in the indie film world were really pissed off at me. They were like, ‘Great, now she’s gone forever,’” Pugh told Time. “And I’m like, no, I’m working as hard as I used to work. I’ve always done back-to-back movies. It’s just people are watching them now. You just have to be a bit more organized with your schedule.”

Since Black Widow, Pugh has bounced back and forth between indie films and blockbusters. In 2022, Pugh starred in mid-budget thriller Don’t Worry Darling and the small Netflix film The Wonder. In 2023, Pugh appeared in the independent drama A Good Person and will star in two upcoming big-budget films: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two.

After starring in Black Widow and appearing in three episodes of Hawkeye, Pugh will return as Yelena in Thunderbolts, Marvel’s version of an antihero team-up movie. The Phase Five film is expected to begin filming this summer, with a scheduled release date of July 26, 2024.