Secret Invasion: What Is The Widow's Veil & Who Else Has Used It In The MCU?

Contains spoilers for "Secret Invasion" Season 1, Episode 5 — "Harvest"

Being the superspy that he is, it was only a matter of time before Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) went into full "Mission: Impossible" mode. In "Harvest," he dodges his global fugitive status with a high-tech mask that allows him to enter Finland while looking like a local, causing Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman) to disperse some acidic commentary about the highly expensive "Widow's Veil" apparatus he uses for the task. 

As you might suspect from its name, the Widow's Veil is indeed a Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) reference, and "Secret Invasion" isn't its first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Natasha Romanoff uses it to great effect to infiltrate the World Security Council by impersonating Pamela Hawley (Jenny Agutter) in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." The device has evidently been named in her honor at some point down the line because it has also been known as the photostatic veil. It sees prominent use in "Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." where people like Sunil Bakshi (Simon Kassianides) and Agent 33 (Maya Stojan) use it to impersonate different characters. 

Interestingly enough, the Widow's Veil isn't the first Black Widow reference in "Secret Invasion." Varra (Charlayne Woodard) name-drops "Black Widow" villain General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) during a conversation with Fury, and of course, Episode 5 also features a cameo by Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle), the contractor who supplies Natasha in her solo movie. 

When the MCU drops so many Easter eggs that revolve around a certain character, it's easy to start assuming that said character will make an appearance before long ... either in the show in question or in an upcoming project. Of course, Natasha isn't alive in the main timeline, and while no one is truly dead in the comics, it's pretty difficult to imagine Scarlett Johanson making her grand MCU return in a "Secret Invasion" cameo. As such, it's possible that all these allusions tease an upcoming appearance by the current reigning Black Widow, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). Yelena is still very active in the MCU and is set to lead the Thunderbolts — a team that operates on a similar government black ops level as Fury does. She's also appeared in Marvel's Disney+ shows before, being one of the most prominent characters in "Hawkeye." Are all these references teasing a Yelena cameo in the final episode of "Secret Invasion," or are they just the MCU's ways to honor its original Black Widow?