This is dedicated to my beautiful best friend & wife, Big Red. I know “Nat” is your girl so I had to do her justice. Thanks for putting up with me. Love, J
Let’s face it. In these times, rules and deadlines are subjective. If we had to wait a whole extra year to see Scarlett Johansson’s overdue solo movie, Black Widow, then waiting a few more months for my take on it shouldn’t matter much; if at all. Things are different now. Due to the streaming vs. theatrical release controversy (and preferences) playing out in real time, I am of the mind that we will see all these projects when we are good & ready but an in-depth theory review such as this takes proper time to write & publish; I won’t be rushed. Now that the movie is streaming freely on Disney+, the greatest amount of people have the opportunity to see and discuss this story. I do hope that you have watched the movie at least once before you read this. If you prefer to read here first then know that this is not a blow by blow article. This is a review of the theories that pertain to the on-going Marvel Cinematic Universe and how this story may or may not fit in. I share my honest & authentic point of views; take it or leave it.
The timeless nostalgia & legend owed to this character is immeasurable in the world of Marvel Studios and allows for a true reflection of a cinematic work of art. Still, I apologize to my readers that sent me encouraging requests for this theory review. I started off 2021 gung-ho but was met with a lot of negative politics and that was before I got sick which really got me down for some time. As I am not a click bait writer or even one trying to write up every so-called news story, letting time reveal more things has allowed me to enjoy this character, movie & theory review process even more! In that time, I realized that I am much more of a fan of Scarlett than I was of the character, Natasha Romanova. Even though I knew a lot about her from the movies, I couldn’t review the Black Widow movie and give it the same justice as I did WandaVision & The Falcon And The Winter Soldier without prior research. Soooo…I read…into as much as possible.
If you don’t get the “read/read” thing then you most likely won’t get the ambiguity of the Black Widow, Natalia Romanova a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff (Romanov)(Nat). Tony Stark said it best when he claimed that she was a ‘triple agent and he’d never seen the likes of her before’. Admittedly I was only a comic book fan of this character from her sexy Daredevil episodes in the comics; plus the MCU & Marvel Animation projects. To do the first female member of Marvel Studios’ version of the legendary Avengers justice I had to read; and read I did! Context makes a difference in one’s interpretation of almost anything, right? Hopefully, you will grant me some latitude in knowing how thorough I try to be when I review theories.
Black Widow’s Head Writer, Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Endgame) & Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision) seem to be creators after my own heart (Ryan Coogler, Markus & McFeely being my favorites). Heavily influenced by Black Widow’s comic book lore (and previous film appearances), the script for this “prequel-ish” adventure appears to be almost everything we were looking for. However, concern for violent imagery & influences by The House The Mouse Built may have softened the delivery & impact…a bit too much. Choice bruises were shown, then easily covered up in tandem with the absence & lack of inevitable facial bruising after the formidable fights acted out by the women from The Red Room Program (ran by General Dreykov, played by Ray Winstone), and played tricks on the eyes & minds of viewers not used to the true depiction of the brutality that these people would have realistically gone through. Whereas physical injuries inhibited many males in previous Marvel Studios projects (at least to the end of each specific story), nothing “logically” seemed to slow Nat down here or permanently disfigure her (whew). Scarlett‘s pervasive beauty seems to have taken a slight more precedence than the gravity of the plot. Would you like to see a bit more R rated imagery in Marvel productions?
This film didn’t go as “Winter Soldier” as it could & should have gone. We also know that Nat should have been depicted as an “enhanced” in the MCU, but she never was. Many of her feats come off more like Fast & Furious stunts instead of “MCU physics”; notwithstanding Captain America’s shield, of course. I must admit that I already feel cheated that I probably will never get to see Nat & Matt (Murdock) meet in an MCU setting. The legal impasse between Disney, Marvel Studios & the legendary Johansson has only exacerbated any doubt that we will ever see her in this role again. The lawsuit has been settled but the notion that this is the end of an era increases the value of this film for me. I also wonder what it would have been like to see Black Widow move through “The Big Apple’s” rooftops at least once, interacting with the corrupt bosses and rebel gangs that played such an important part of the world. After all that said…
I enjoyed the movie overall! Nat is The Red Queen’s (my wife) favorite MCU character to date. The story gave us a lot of far reaching, (fictional) historical details. The majority of the easter egg theories are introduced in the beginning of the movie. The “HYDRA controlled S.H.I.E.L.D.“ (SHIELD) established The North Institute (simply called “North” in the comics) in Ohio, which not only preceded but possibly inspired (and/or funded) Aldrich Killian’s (Iron Man 3) cellular mapping of the human brain via Maya Hansen’s research. As understated as it is in the beginning of the film, this detail could possibly begin to thread the connection from Iron Man to The Mandarin (Wenwu) in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings; via his daughter, Xialing and her fight club. Killian met Tony Stark blustering about his privately funded think tank, Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) on December 31, 1999; approximately 16 years prior to the current time period of the majority of this movie and 5 years after North was burnt down under Dreykov’s orders.
Mint God Theory: If HYDRA did inspire and fund AIM (like it did in the comics) that would mean that not only did the science & technology that improved control over The Winter Soldiers (Captain America: Civil War) come from North, but the inception of the Extremis virus could have as well. The series finale of What If? confirmed that Arnim Zola’s A.I. program was saved in the same Siberian base where The Winter Soldier Program was carried out. Is there any need to argue whether Agents of SHIELD is MCU canon anymore? LOL. This possible retcon would be a nod to the comic mythology.
When it comes to the MCU, 1995 is a watershed year for at least 7 of the prominent females in The MCU, other male supporting characters and possibly a few “players” that haven’t even appeared yet. If the canon from the Marvel TV Netflix shows hold true (once Charlie Cox is inserted into The MCU) then, specifically Daredevil. The year in question dates when Carol Danvers (1) returned to Earth uncovering her true origins after being kidnapped & brainwashed (much like Nat (2) & Yelena Belova (3) combined) by the alien race called The Kree. Simultaneously, Nick Fury had recently been assigned to SHIELD’s California Division for saving Alexander Pierce (HYDRA sleeper agent, former US Secretary of Defense & World Council Secretary) & Pierce’s daughter’s life; another deep cut. Fury, Agent Coulson, Maria (4) and Monica Rambeau (5) were learning about aliens experimenting on Earth and the existence of bio-enhanced humans via Carol and The Skrulls. The girls (young Nat & Yelena) had already been trained as child spies operating in Ohio, USA for at least 3 years at this point. While these two girls would lose their make believe parents, Ava Starr (6) lost her real parents, Elihas & Catherine, in a botched experiment testing Hank Pym’s early build of a Quantum Tunnel as well. She would become known as Ghost, a woman in constant pain whose body phased and becomes intangible uncontrollably.
Another powerfully interesting event during this point in time wasn’t even in this galaxy. The Mad Titan, Thanos was destroying Gamora‘s (7) family and people (Zenhobereians) in 1995 as well. It should be noted that there is a conflicting theory that the destruction of Zenhoberei occurred in 1998. I chose to believe it happened in 1995 based on Avengers: Infinity War canon. Also occurring in space at this time, Stakar Ogord (played by Sylvester Stallone), leader of a clan of space pirates called The Ravagers banished Yondu Undonta from the syndicate for kidnapping the child, Peter Quill (Star-Lord) from Earth for his Celestial father, Ego. While using this macro point of view of Marvel Studios’ universe I found a pattern of male figures in power separating children from their families in these separate but similar plot points. (I hope Marvel Studios changes their narrative up a bit more creatively & frequently moving forward; they’ve become a bit redundant in this regard.) Doctor Strange‘s enemy, Kaecilius also began training under The Ancient One in Kamar-Taj in 1995. Since Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Vincent Donofrio’s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin are rumored to appear this year (Spider-Man: No Way Home & Hawkeye, respectively), I remain open-minded that their Netflix timeline may become MCU canon as well; at least “loosely enough” for it to matter. In that instance, 1995 would also be the year that Matt Murdock met, trained with, and was ultimately abandoned by his mentor, Stick. Like I said, I was a big fan of Daredevil and Black Widow “team-ups” in the comics, so the idea that they were simultaneously being trained for their future roles in the same cinematic universe is exciting; even if they never meet. I think many casual fans miss the fact that Nat is a very important and big part of the MCU. She didn’t die on Earth and neither did Gamora. They both died on Vormir in front of the wraith formerly known as The Red Skull; let that sink in.
The introduction to this story does a sweet job of planting seeds that add sentiment & emotion by the film’s end. Mantras like “Pain only makes you stronger” and “Never let them take your heart“ along with other specific details were used to not only inform character development, but color the scientific background and history of this period in The MCU making the immersive experience into this world all the better. The “whistle call” between young Natasha & Yelena is a beautiful touch that creates a sense of connection between them without any words; that’s always a plus. The words from Melina Vostokoff (played by Rachel Weisz), as a mother to “her girls”, let us understand where the resilience of these characters comes from. The fascination & explanation about the fireflies (“Lampyridae”) hints & foreshadows the work being done at the aforementioned North Institute. During further research, I realized it also helped to provide a real world scientific foundation as to how cellular mapping of the brain was achieved and why the story’s mind control substance & antidote are red. Yes, there is something about red!
Bioluminescence is a phenomenon where light is emitted from a living organism. As early as 77 B.C. bioluminescent organisms, like jellyfish, were claimed to help cure diseases like gout & kidney stones. The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) states:
“The sparkle of bioluminescence occurs in species including fish in the deep ocean, jellyfish in the shallows, and fungi and fireflies on land. These organisms create light through the interaction of the enzymes luciferase and luciferin (the terms are derived from the Latin word lucifer—lightbringer) or by hosting light-emitting bacteria.”.
Apparently, the luciferase catalyzes the oxidized luciferin which then emits different color lights; all depending on the genetic make of the bioluminescent system. AIBS continues,
“…green fluorescent protein, found in the crystal jellyfish Aequorea victoria, and other fluorescent proteins have revolutionized research in fields from immunology to neuroscience….”These proteins are extending the boundaries of science, including allowing researchers to understand, manipulate, and interact with the living brain. That was once considered science fiction.””
Science Fiction indeed! The integration of real science only adds to the realism that characters like Black Widow (who has been touted in Marvel projects as having no special enhancements) bring to the cinematic universe! As I continued to read I realized that science may have been found as providence and used to bolster the metaphorical significance of “The Red Room“:
In recent decades, a rainbow of fluorescent proteins has been developed. Several colors were used in a neuroscience experiment called the brainbow. Mice were genetically modified to produce different amounts of yellow, cyan (a bluish green), and red in their brains’ nerve cells. The result was a mouse brain that lit up like a neon sign. Researchers could detect individual cells in the brain’s dense network of nerve fibers.
For years, green was the most reliable fluorescence color for live brain imaging. Now, researchers have identified a new fluorescent protein that makes it possible for live neurons to glow red when they are activated. Red light easily penetrates biological tissue and is particularly useful to scientists studying cells and organs. The results were published in November 2018, in the journal Nature Methods.
Cheryl Lyn Dybas, 07 June 2019
It would still take considerable time & research for writers to figure out how to fit this into their narrative; and it seems like they did. I have tried to interview Eric Pearson to ask him questions like this but have yet to get a response. It’s detail oriented flexes like these that make this film a winner in my book. We will not be introduced to this mind-control technology until we meet the grown up Yelena, but I recall the giant map of Aldrich Killian’s active “brainbow“, how it tied to the Extremis virus/serum (which has reappeared in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings), and the possibility of retroactively using bioluminescence in its origin is not only genius but inspiring for the future of storytelling in The Marvel Cinematic Multiverse.
Mint God Theory: It has been rumored that some sort of experiment including gamma radiation & Extremis will be used to transform Secretary of State, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross into his infamous alter ego, Red Hulk. Imagine a laboratory. It looks like the modern version of Abraham Erskine’s lab used to transform Steve Rogers into a Super Soldier. Ross places himself into a similar encasing. He is injected with an improved version of Extremis. At the right moment instead of the Vita-Rays that bombarded Steve, Ross is bombarded with gamma rays. When the lights come back on…”Rulk” is in the building! Based on what I have shared here, the theory is not only sound but one of the best scientific explanations for a superhuman origin for any MCU character thus far in my opinion. The red bioluminescent serum would naturally explain Red Hulk’s color & glow, and possibly connecting it to Extremis would explain part of his regenerative healing factor, his ability to heat his body to melting temperatures like the previous Extremis patients that survived AIM’s experiments as well as his augmented strength. The gamma radiation only adds the “hulk sized” multiplication factor to the Extremis factor which in theory makes for a very formidable character that all Hulk fans can’t wait to see. The other part of the prior rumor I mentioned is that Red Hulk is expected to appear in the Disney+ She-Hulk series slated to debut in early 2022. Can you see how my theory review works? Do you like the ideas presented? How excited are you to see Red Hulk and know that the inception of that storyline possibly began in Iron Man 3, was supported via Black Widow and may manifest in She-Hulk and/or a Thunderbolts series?
It would seem that life is good for Young Natasha & Yelena on the home front. I can’t imagine that director Cate Shortland accidentally omitted the spy surnames for these covert operatives but I have yet to find out what their undercover names were. I think viewers aren’t meant to become too attached to this pseudo reality of family life; it’s a fake domicile in a fictional movie. Still, the story of the Post Cold War Era in The MCU would be very interesting. The stories of Natasha’s pubescent years are the things legends are made of in the comic books. I can’t help but think there is a prequel to this prequel begging to be told, and Marvel Studios knew to have that said story be told at another time.
Besides the dreamcatcher on the living room wall everything looked like it could have been a home of one of my Russian or Armenian friends; especially with all the vodka in the dining room. Young Yelena’s innocence & excitement set us up well for the gut wrenching drama & action that is to be the escape from North’s SHIELD/Hydra agents. David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov) enters the movie unassumingly tucking one of the two major macguffins (in this film) into his shirt; North Institute’s secret research files on a floppy disk. Once established as the father figure of the family he steals the majority of the scenes he is in, in my opinion. It was an utter joy to watch him bring so much character & humor to his morally inept role, much like Chris Hemsworth has parodied his role as Thor. I kinda like the comedy from Alexei more out the two.
From his well delivered but awkward stare at Rachel (alerting her that it is time to run) to him taking control of the team & situation in order to flee the fallout from the fire at North, David’s beats were all on point. As I previously stated, the quickly referred to North Institute disk seems to be a macguffin of epic proportions. The story of this family of undercover Russian operatives, their 3+ years in Ohio and the history of North Institute is a Disney+ (or Hulu) series I want to see! Shortland’s direction shines bright from the moment the “family with no name” drives away from Young Yelena’s “home”. While other kids are playing in their front yards, young Nat & Yelena are playing a game of life & death; with only one of them even being aware of the stakes. The facial reactions and apprehension of Alexei & Melina seeing the fire at North before making a smooth right away from police activity and gingerly driving while their allegedly 6 year old daughter sings “…this could be the day that I die.” (Don McClean’s 1971 hit song, “American Pie”) instinctively raised the level of gravitas and irony.
The visual metaphors & allegory of Alexei & Co.’s “barnstorming“ is one of the most impactful character building scenes in the whole movie and in Natasha Romanoff’s onscreen history. In this moment we learn that not only has she been trained to co-pilot a small plane by the age of 11, but that she is no stranger to super-humans. There is no visible shock from Nat seeing Alexei tossing the construction bin blocking the escape plane in a shed, or at any of his wing riding. She naturally shows fear of the SHIELD agents shooting at her and her family, but is able to maintain her focus enough to take over as pilot & take off (under fire) after Melina is shot in the right shoulder (that bullet could’ve easily hit Nat instead). The other emotion Ever Anderson (Young Nat) is able to convey in this epic action sequence is concern for the life of Alexei. Once she sees him hanging onto the right wing of the plane after they narrowly escape, she’s relieved with no sign of worry that he could die or be in any more danger. Do you agree that and Black Widow prequel series starring Ever Anderson as Young Natasha encountering the likes of Wolverine, Bucky Barnes & The Winter Guard is needed?
As night turns to day and the sky turns into the air strip in Cuba, the sense of escape & freedom lingers like a fragrance long enough to hear my own thoughts clearly for a moment. All I could think about as I watched this transition was, “Did Alexei just ride on the wing of the plane for the whole trip?!?”. And it looks like he did! It looks like there may have been an astronaut’s sleeping bag (or something) strapped to where Alexei would have been. This could have been used to keep him warm as well as add to Alexei’s love for building the legend of The Red Guardian. Here is another minute detail with an obvious omission of information. Whether my imagination took over or the film’s creative team was just that thoughtful, I took this to mean that Natasha Romanova flew a plane from Ohio, USA to Cuba at 11 years old in 1995. She thereby saved 4 lives; including her own. I learned (in my reading) that one of those lives was a character that was married to Black Widow in the comic book mythology (Red Guardian) and ironically a pilot, even though he is never shown flying a plane in the movie. Here, instead of the dutiful husband, we learn that he is the immoral & disgraced spy for the infamous Dreykov, leader of The Red Room. We learn that the girls are just pawns to be drugged & used however these powerful adult males see fit. We learn that the destruction of North Institute was imperative for Dreykov’s plans; but why? We learn that Melina survived her wound and that Natasha was able to disarm a Soviet soldier at 11; but unable to kill a man yet. We learn all of this in the first 13 minutes of the movie, which is almost the exact time it takes before the movie title and intro appear. This introduction to the first act is a brilliant summary & tease to a story that won’t be told in this movie. The imagery of little girls imprisoned & kidnapped in shipping containers while the song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Think Up Anger ft. Malia J changes the whole vibe of what we had been watching so far. This was the toughest scene for me to watch.
It felt like child trafficking was improperly glanced over but what should we really expect from a Disney film? The disingenuous assurance from Alexei to the girls…only to have them drugged and “dragged”…the metaphor of innocence lost with a stuffed animal…”and cut!” to introduction credits? There wasn’t enough shown to honor the real life victims of child trafficking. Dreykov’s order to ‘remove the defects’ is just as cold as Ebony Maw’s speech when half a population is about to be killed at “The hands of The Children of Thanos”. The clarity of thoughtfulness displayed in the intro warrants me giving the filmmakers the benefit of doubt in how they left out so much. Before we know it, 21 years have passed. Nat is 32 years old and a fugitive from The United Nations and The United States government for violating The Sokovia Accords. She is being hunted by “Thunderbolt” Ross. It is obvious to me that he is in this story because this film is meant to be the Nick Fury-esque inception of The Thunderbolt Initiative. I truly believe we will see this film as such in hindsight. It has to be the case for no other reason than Secretary of States don’t personally lead global manhunts. Where Dreykov had someone on the ground headed to intercept Natasha in Norway, Secretary Ross could’ve had someone else chasing Nat but Pearson & Schaeffer seem to have chosen for his ever-looming presence in this story. Do you think Black Widow is the beginning of The Thunderbolts?
The dialogue between Nat & Ross is specifically meant to be mirrored by dialogue in the tag scene at the end of the movie between Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine (Val) & Yelena. The word “desperate” seems to be a reverse psychology technique both Nat & Yelena (Widows) use on people who try to assert unwanted authority over them. Nat also used this during her final confrontation with Dreykov. Regarding Ross, I believe that it is meant to infer that at some point he was a handler for Agent Romanoff. It obviously wouldn’t have been during or for any SHEILD operations because Nick Fury was in charge there. Even though Fury & Ross have yet to be seen on screen to together (Stark’s memorial doesn’t count), we have been made aware that they probably don’t work well together and don’t share similar agendas. Nat’s role in that tug of war has been omitted up to this point as well. She is clearly 10 steps ahead of Ross as was displayed in the deleted scene, “It Was All Me”.
The pace of the movie picks up rather quickly once Yelena (played by Florence Pugh) appears as an adult in Morocco. Perched above what I believe to be the location where The United States created their first Consulate/Embassy in 1797, within the blue walls of Medina, she is vicious and the leader of her team of Red Room assassins hunting a scientist named Oksana. The second major macguffin appears in the form of red vials containing the antidote to the mind control chemical of which all of the subservient Black Widows from Dreykov’s Red Room are under the influence. No official word has been given but some are calling the antidote, “red dust”; yet another name to a plot point that is noticeably absent again. There is no mention of the chemical’s name, nor the name of the antidote. At this point I wonder if this a dead end movie that will give us as little as possible to look forward to in future Marvel projects or if this too will be a part of a “Black Widow” series in the future (starring Ever Anderson, maybe?). Do you think not telling us details like undercover spy names, the name of the mind control agent or its antidote is a good thing or a bad thing? Regardless, the significance of the Morocco scene should follow Yelena beyond this film into her other future appearances in the The MCU. She had been under mind control for the majority of her life, in one form or another. Once free, her mission becomes freeing all the others and creating a life that she can appreciate; re-defining herself (and the Black Widow moniker). On the flip side we see Taskmaster (Antonia Dreykov; played by Olga Kurylenko) for the first time right after Yelena’s path is set up. Both of these characters are vastly different from their comic book origins. Both represent a part of Natasha’s past that she has not been ready to deal with up to this point. That is pretty much where the similarities end.
Let’s address Taskmaster and my thoughts about the use of the character here. There aren’t many things that make this character stand out in the movie besides the beautiful fight scenes and the reveal that Taskmaster is a “she”. Taskmaster’s physical movements throughout the movie were the “truest” attribute to the original character; but that’s not what made Taskmaster great in the comic books to me. Even Taskmaster had limitations. He may have been a formidable mercenary and combatant but he could never stand up to the like of most A-List villains (i.e., Doctor Doom). There were obvious missteps with this character’s introduction in the movie, unless this isn’t meant to be the one and only Taskmaster (Tony Masters; first appearance Avengers #195). The “Taskmaster Protocol” was mentioned when planning to apprehend Yelena in the movie. Could it be named after the original Taskmaster? Yes, the key to Taskmaster’s elite acumen is autonomy in every sense of the word; the movie contradicts this. His comic book version’s weaknesses are his limited human physiology and his memory. Taskmaster is a one man army whose natural gifts were enhanced (not created) by a formula which limited the capacity of his memory. However, said formula supercharged his natural super reflexes & muscle memory. This is one of the reasons I believe the screenplay was genius while certain aspects of the story left me disappointed. The optimist in me hopes Marvel will save face (as they have done with other retcons) and develop the Taskmaster mythology. How did you feel about Taskmaster?
Mint God Theory: Antonia Dreykov could actually be Tony Master’s daughter and been kidnapped by Dreykov after the original Taskmaster either crossed the General or came to his attention. Another idea bouncing around in my head is that Masters could have been the prize study subject for North Institute since he possesses an outlier physiology for one who could still be considered a human being. Maybe he too was kidnapped to be studied by Derykov’s scientists. This would also be reason to destroy all records at North’s facility. Marvel Comics presented the alleged daughter of the true Taskmaster as Jeanne Foucault (Finesse). I don’t believe that this is the same character but there are some nuances that could be added to Olga Kurylenko’s character from source material. If Dreykov could send “The Soviet Union’s version of Captain America” away to The Seventh Circle gulag with Ursa Major, it would be reasonable to think that Dreykov would have no issue with assassinating one of the greatest mercenaries on Earth (pre-Deadpool) while keeping who and what meant the most to him for insurance; and more power. Knowing the girl’s natural potential, Dreykov would naturally have raised this child to be come a soldier under his control. Dreykov doesn’t strike me as man who would have a daughter of his own. We could still possibly see the real Taskmaster seamlessly worked into The MCU; no worries whatsoever about this.
Traditionally, Natasha’s character would be hiding in luxury somewhere but here we see her hiding in a trailer in Norway. That detail did well to convey her desperation. Rick Mason (Mason) (first appearance, Rick Mason: The Agent; 1987) is another Marvel character reworked for this film. In the comics, he is the son of The Tinkerer (Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2017) and a former SHEILD agent. Here, we know very little about him but he seems to be worked in as a character to be used in the future for Yelena. The “Fanny Longbottom” alias & connection to Yelena’s pet dog at the end is cute and adds to the idea that Mason & Yelena are still in communication after the events of this movie. The spy community must be very small because I still wonder how Yelena got in good with Mason so quickly after she was sprayed with the red dust. Mason could most likely be the way Yelena intends to find Hawkeye (Clint). He (Mason) brings the antidote to Norway in a box of old things from Budapest making me wonder about his age and his involvement in the mission Nat & Clint had attempting to kill Dreykov.
Skipping mudane trailer life in Norway, the missile on the bridge is a classic Taskmaster attack. The action is well choreographed and tells a story of it’s own. Nat thinking that her attacker is sent from Ross solidifies my opinion that they must’ve had a working relationship before she even joined SHIELD. If there is an MCU comic alluding to connections between these two I don’t remember reading it. I feel as though Taskmaster is underused in this movie. The grace with which she fights (I’m aware that she used male stunt doubles as well) makes you want to see more of it. This is one the must-see fight scenes in all of Marvel even though it wasn’t much of a fight. The connection to the Widows is made via the picture Nat gave Yelena before they were separated as girls. This and the vials send Nat back to Budapest.
Another fight worthy of the books is quickly picked up between the Widows in the Budapest safehouse. There really isn’t much for me to sink my teeth into besides Nat has to almost kill Yelena to stop her but she actually cares for her which puts her at a disadvantage; great fight Ladies. The whole idea that Nat didn’t know Dreykov survived was as unbelievable to me as it was Yelena. How can Nat find Bucky for Steve (Captain America: Civil War) but have no clue that The Red Room is active? The mentioned arrow marks in the wall let us know that Clint was here but once again the story was left for another day. As they are attacked by the Widows, Natasha’s wounds don’t seem to effect her much. She falls from the 4th floor of a building banging against vents & things all the way down but lands on her feet!? I want to believe that we are going to learn that there’s something about Red here but we don’t. She just carries on. The Taskmaster chase was interesting but should have been better. I wanted to see both of them against her but it wasn’t meant to be. This action would have been perfect for a James Bond movie but I felt the stakes should’ve been higher for a Marvel movie. Taskmaster’s shield throw down the escalators into the subway was the highlight of that whole exchange for me. Nat’s confession that she knowingly attempted to kill a child (Antonya) in order to kill a monster (Dreykov) was incredible and just what I needed to finally be ok with her sacrifice on Vormir. She deserved to die and was lucky to be able to die as honorably as she did when she sacrificed herself for The Soul Stone…’Nuff said.
The scenes up to the reveal of Alexei in The Seventh Circle were good for sentiment and character building for Yelena. I thought that most of it made Nat look stupid. How are they actually discussing Avengers business & Nat’s poses in front of the storekeeper in Budapest and no one recognizes her or shows any alarm? The back and forth between the Widows, and Mason pushes the plot forward as it was getting obvious that they had wasted enough time in between events. David Harbour is worthy of his own Disney+ show as Red Guardian! Alexei’s questionable recollection of encountering Captain America (Steve Rogers), the presence of another Winter Guard/Soviet Super-Soldiers member in Ursa Major are more than enough teases for us to get excited about a spin-off series. I personally am looking forward to seeing the whole crew, but haven’t been given any inside information to believe they could be showing up at all. How funny would it be to find out that Alexei had been fooled to think he saw Captain America when it was actually a Skrull? LOL! I love that there are so many options to take these little tidbits down the line.
The escape from The Seventh Circle was cinematic and thrilling. I got those Fast and Furious vibes again seeing the avalanche head for the gulag. After all the hoopla of getting Alexei out, the dynamic & dialogue between he & The Widows was very entertaining. The idea of “country over everything” is very believable from him. The attempt to justify his previous actions played perfectly. Making their way to Melina was another stretch of time that I think could have been used to explain plot holes and missing details. As far as theory goes, we are convinced that Alexei believes he has met Captain America (Steve Rogers) before, however there is no possible way that happened in The MCU as we know it today.
The family reunion at Melina’s dinner table fed my theory by giving us her explanation of the North Institute mission in Ohio and some of the fruit of the spoils. This,Yelena’s emotional line, “The best part of my life was fake and none of you told me?” and speech about how her spy family was the realest part of her life were two of my favorite moments of the whole movie. I felt my first human connection to Yelena’s character in that moment. Melina’s line, “The world works on a higher level when it is controlled.” gave me chills as we all feel less control over our lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea that people actually think like this is a terrifying prospect that we as free people must fight against. I am very happy that Kevin Feige made sure this scene made the cut. Melina tells Nat, “(Natasha) You weren’t abandoned. You were selected by a program that assessed the genetic potential in infants.”
I don’t know if she was alluding to the X-gene and/or the Inhuman gene but the info about Dreykov having Nat’s mother killed because she wouldn’t stop searching for her “special” child raised my eyes & ears as well. That easter egg seems to be too little, too late unless that spin-off series comes to light but crazier tidbits have been pulled from obscurity in the past and given us great pieces to the puzzle that is The Marvel Cinematic Universe. Alexei getting shot up with a bevy of tranquilizers was poetic justice as Melina previously likened him to a pig. He actually looked like a stuck pig when Taskmaster and Co. came to collect them to The Red Room.
Black Widow, the comic book character, has been connected to The Inhumans in a titled series as well as storylines since the 70’s up into Yelena’s first appearance in Inhumans Vol. 2 #5 (1999). I’ve known this as a collector but when I tell you that when I saw The MCU Red Room that I was shocked & amazed, that would be an understatement. All I could think about was how this aerial base looked like the precursor for the Inhuman city of Attilan! The whole concept of a city hidden in the clouds has been something I’ve anticipated, but even the industrial look of The Red Room vs the ethereal look of Attilan (in my mind) was enough to get the blood pumping and the ideas flowing. The plot twist was well used and added a level of respect and legend to Dreykov that I had not expected. The fallout from The Red Room being brought out of the sky should have ramifications on a global scale but none are alluded to by the end of of film; not even in the deleted scenes.
The pheromonal lock that prevented Nat from acts of violence against Dreykov originally comes from the comics where a merc named Vasily Ilich Ulyanov possessed the same advantage over Nat until he broke her nose. Nat breaks her own nose in the film but it was an amazing nod to the comics. Another piece of the retcon puzzle could include another Vasily that all MCU fans already know: General Vasily Karpov (played by Gene Farber), The Winter Soldier’s handler in Captain America: Civil War, one of the creators of The Red Room (in the comics) via Department X and the Soviet spy living in America that Baron Zemo tortured and killed to get the red ledger containing the codes to control Bucky Barnes. He, along with Alexander Pierce must have been using a pheromone lock as a fail safe against Bucky as well. The Red Room, Winter Soldier Program & North Institute connection is MCU canon now, so I hope for the prequel trajectory of Black Widow and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier to continue (i.e. Isaiah Bradley, Alexei, Melina, The North Institute, Bucky Barnes and The Winter Soldier Program, etc.) Another reason I believe Karpov will be an interesting part of the puzzle for future stories is that he is the adoptive father of David Harbour’s character, Alexei in the comics. This is what I would consider an elementary deduction. Lol.
The rest of the film is amazing to watch. No other theories jumped out at me. I enjoyed the rest of the movie almost as if it wasn’t a Marvel Studios project which is a compliment to Cate Shortland as director, the actors, the VFX editors, stunt people and the whole crew. All major characters carried their roles so well I pray that we get to continue seeing them in some fashion; including Scarlett as Natasha and Ray Winstone as Dreykov. Marvel Studios prides itself on its interconnecting storied universe. Natasha Romanoff has proven to be as essential a piece to the world’s history (and survival) as Captain America or Iron Man. It would be a great loss not to continue to tell her history in the future. I don’t know if bringing Natasha back to life or introducing a “multiversal variant” is the way to go but I am sure that The Cold War & Post Cold War eras have a gold mine of stories that Marvel could & should use to solidify its interconnecting history and inspire it’s fans to go back, watch all of the projects and continue to find connections to the past giving hope for the future. I would also be excited to see a movie introducing the Secret Avengers which could bring Scarlett, Chris Evans and others back to tell the story about what happened to Nat & Steve between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. That story alone could set up a ton of characters (e.g., Wolverine, Spider-Woman, Sentry, Frank Castle, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Captain Britain, other international superheroes & characters) as well as other projects that would be just as successful as everything that has come before and more. It could even give us that chance to show Nat & Daredevil together. I know it’s highly unlikely but I can dream, right? How did you enjoy Black Widow? Were there any details that I didn’t mention that you found interesting and would like to share? Please leave a comment here or find us on our Twitter page and follow this Twitter page for giveaway prizes and to be a part of something cool and new for 2022!
If you have taken the time to read this entire theory review you have my wholehearted thanks and appreciation. Be well, be whole, be blessed Beloved. Manchild out.
Everyone Loves A Good Story 