Tony: Did she have any family?
Cap: Yeah. Us.
Welllllllllll… sorry, America’s Ass, but as it turns out, Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) had another family before the Mighty Ones. It remains to be seen how they will react to her passing in Avengers: Endgame, but in the upcoming Black Widow solo film, fans will get acquainted with Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and Alexei Shostakov/The Red Guardian (David Harbour).
Before joining the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha was a Russian agent, raised in the Red Room, to be the ultimate spy and assassin. Though not a lot of details are known, it appears that Melina was her mentor and possibly a mother figure. It’s not clear how Alexai fits. (I mean, he’s a “daddy” but I mean… probably not a father figure, but who knows?)
As for Yelena, it appears that she and Natasha shared a sisterly relationship, with Natasha as the overachieving older sis, and Yelena as the spunky little sis. Their relationship is the focus of a behind-the-scenes featurette that includes never-before-seen footage from Black Widow and commentary from Johansson and Pugh.
Check it out below:
Cate Shortland (SMILF) directed Black Widow, with a screenplay by Eric Pearson, based on a story by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson. In addition to Johansson, Pugh, Weisz, and Harbour, the film stars O-T Fagbenle as Rick Mason, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with a past romantic connection to Natasha. The Taskmaster is the flick’s main antagonist, but the identity under that skull mask is top secret. Many are betting it’s either Fagbenle’s character or Melina Vostokoff, as in the comics, that is the alter ego of the villain Iron Maiden. Then again, the MCU takes a lot of liberties with its printed source material.
After being delayed multiple times, Black Widow will finally blast its way onto the big screen this weekend on July 9, 2021. It will also be released to Disney+ subscribers as a Premier Access title. For an additional $30, you can purchase the digital version of the movie and watch it as many times as you like for the duration of your Disney+ subscription.
Will you be checking out Black Widow this weekend? If so, in what format?
