The time has finally come, Black Widow has been released after over a year of delays. The film was originally supposed to be release in May of 2020, until COVID-19 came and pushed it back to November 2020. The COVID ramped up and forced the film to come out on July 9, 2021, but thanks to early showings the night prior, I was able to see it on July 8. This was the first time that I had been inside a movie theater since February 2020! Of course it had to be an MCU movie, and it was a great experience, but what was even more great was being able to see a Marvel movie again as the last one came out over 2-years ago in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Black Widow is a very interesting film and one that, after sleeping on it, is not only one of my favorite solo MCU movies, but might even be my favorite espionage film in recent memory. Scarlett Johansson does a masterful job, one last time, as Natasha Romanoff. Since seeing the Russian Spy-turned Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2010’s Iron Man 2, fans of of the MCU who aren’t that familiar with her in the comics have been wondering what her backstory really is, for over a decade now. This movie does a really great job at that, and provides an origin story that is really compelling, and makes you gain even more respect for Natasha.
Image via Comic Book
The character that stole the show in my mind though, was Yelena Belova played by rising star actress Florence Pugh. I knew all along that Yelena would not be Taskmaster. That theory dating as far back as her being cast, was always silly in my mind. Yelena will seemingly, in time, take on the Black Widow (or White Widow) mantle to eventually join the Avengers. Pugh did a great job at, not only pulling off a convincing Russian accent, but also at playing this role all around. I’ve been a huge fan of hers since 2016’s Marcella, so when she was cast in Black Widow a few years ago, it enhanced by excitement ten fold.
Image via Polygon
The end credits scene was one of the most intriguing parts of the film though, especially ones that involved Yelena. Julia Louise-Dreyfus’ character Valentina Allegra de Fontaine aka Madame Hydra, is seemingly working with Yelena after the events of Avengers: Endgame. de Fontaine shows a grieving Yelana a photo of Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and says, “this is who really killed your sister.” With reports coming out a few months ago that Pugh had joined the cast of the Hawkeye series on Disney+, that definitely was confirmed here after he credits rolled.
de Fontaine is definitely doing her part in manipulating certain characters, as we saw her do with Wyatt Russell’s John Walker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which was supposed to release after Black Widow, and now in Black Widow which gives us a better understanding of who she is, and excites us much more now, after knowing what she does with Walker.
If I were a betting man, which many of you know I am, I’m putting my money on Yelena hunting down Hawkeye, and maybe even going as far as to kill Clint in the Hawkeye series. Or at least being a contributing factor into his death. Yelena will, as I said, in time, become a huge part of the MCU as a superhero, but she needs that heroes journey. Right now for the first time in her life she’s free, and she’ll want to avenge her fallen sister. While killing him might be a little extreme, maybe Yelena’s path isn’t as an Avenger, but as the leader of the anti-hero team the Thunderbolts? Either way, I just want to see more of her, and all of the sudden, my entire hype surrounding the Hawkeye series resides with Yelena.
Image via Newsweek
As for the plot of the film it was really neat to see Natasha on her own turf. In her own playing field with a group of people that have had a long-lasting role in her life, for better or for worse. As well as taking down a villain whose been a huge part of her life since essentially her birth. Natasha and Yelena rebuilding their family and reconciling with their fake parents, was done in a really great way and caused me to want more. Sadly we will never see the four on screen together again thanks to Natasha dying in Endgame.
The movie’s beginning where we see a young Natasha and Yelena, where Alexei and Melina are in the midsts of faking their parenthood with the heroines, was done spectacularly. The music made it all the more compelling as well. Each scene would end up having a bit of action, and the action was in fact done very well. Some of the time in the MCU there will times in the movies where the action just doesn’t flow very well. Black Widow takes that trope, and completely squashes it every chance it got. And while there are times within the MCU where a film’s plot doesn’t feel all that smoothly, again Black Widow came in for the kill.
My only issue with the story, would be the end. It felt sort of flat. The buildup to General Ross coming in to stop Natasha seemed like it was the film’s endgame. But in the end the film ends with Ross and his men closing in on Natasha to “hype building” music playing. That is until the screen cuts to black and “2-weeks-later” pops up on the screen where Natasha flies off to help Steve Rogers. This just seemed like a missed opportunity to involve Ross moving forward, but I’ll get to that later.
Image via Screen Rant
Dreykov and the Red Room were done perfectly, especially with the modern design-take on the Red Room being a floating station where Dreykov can deal with his desire to be a God figure. The opening credits sequence detailed quite the insane start of a crazy organization ran by Dreykov, who, as some will forget, was revealed to be Natasha’s actual father. Also getting the details on the “Budapest Mission” which was first alluded to in 2012’s The Avengers, was a nice touch. The mission ended up seeing Natasha and Clint Barton attempting to assassinate Dreykov in an explosion, but in the end it actually killed his daughter, Antonia. Dreykov wasn’t even there, and Antonia would end up becoming Taskmaster.
Image via Screen Rant
If you were wondering why General, or Secretary of the State now, Ross looked considerably older in the Black Widow trailer, it was because Ross has undergone three triple bypass surgeries. Clearly Ross would like to get some of his “youthfulness” back, and while my theory since we first saw him in the trailer was that we’d see him try to get his hands on something to gain power was put to rest, that doesn’t mean he won’t try to do something shady in the near future.
With the She-Hulk series currently filming for Disney+, rumors swirled back in 2020 that William Hurt would become Red Hulk in the series. In the comics Ross believes that the only way to stop the Hulk, is to become the monster himself. After he had a heart attack he he decided that he’d use the super soldier serum mixed with gamma radiation to become a more intelligent version of the Hulk. He became red, and, in time, began to sympathize for Bruce Banner and became an ally to him, and to the Avengers.
While it seems like a long shot that he’d become an ally, the seeds are starting to be planted for his red transformation at some point in the future.
Image via Vox
At the end of the day, Black Widow is an exceptional film and one that serves its purpose as a fitting end to Natasha Romanoff. I was hooked in from start to finish, and the entertainment factor was through the roof. This isn’t my favorite Marvel movie, but it is definitely one of my top 10 favorites.
You can see Black Widow in theaters, and on Disney+ with premier access.