Better Late Than Never: Marvel Gets it Right in "Black Widow"
This past July, one of Marvel’s most beloved characters finally starred in her own movie. In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is given time under a well-deserved spotlight, as well as a much needed farewell, after her surprising death in Avengers: Infinity War.
This film is set in a familiar, yet standalone, time. Sandwiched between Captain America: Civil War, when Natasha violates the Sokovia Accords and becomes a fugitive, and Avengers: Infinity War, when the Avengers get back together to fight the great villain Thanos, who wants to destroy half of the universe’s (including Earth) population. At first, Natasha uses her time as a fugitive to rest and binge-watch some spy movies but very quickly someone from her past asks for her help.
Natasha’s younger sister, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), calls on Natasha to help her bring down the Red Room, the institution which trained both of them as spies and assassins. The Red Room is still kidnapping and training young women to commit similar crimes. To finally stop the mastermind behind the Red Room, Natasha and Yelena reunite with their “parents,” Milena Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), one of the first Black Widow spies, and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour), an old Russian super soldier. Alexei Shostakov was also known as the Red Guardian during the Second World War, when the Soviets injected him with a similar super-soldier serum that was given to Captain America to give him super strength and other extraordinary powers.
The four of them once were a family in the United States as an undercover mission for the Soviet Union. This new family dynamic is very refreshing to watch in the MCU, and they all work perfectly together in this fake-dysfunctional-spy family.
Much more than being a final goodbye to Natasha, Black Widow also passes on her legacy to Yelena. Florence Pugh’s character joins the MCU with a bang. Whenever she’s on-screen, the actress is all the audience can think about, stealing all the spotlight. The movie does a good job of giving some background information on Natasha’s history, but it mostly sets up the future with Yelena’s potential, especially since Natasha’s own movie came a little too late to the MCU.
Identity is a big part of this movie, as the audience follows Natasha’s final run in the MCU and Yelena’s first adventure as a Marvel hero. Both of them have struggled with finding their identities through their lives, but together, in their journey on Black Widow, they can look into their pasts and understand a little better who they are. One of the sweetest easter eggs in this film is the fact that the green vest Natasha wears in Infinity War was given to her by Yelena. She bought the vest for herself as a way to establish her own individuality and later gave it to her big sister, who kept wearing it after their parted ways.
Natasha’s heart and sensibility are a big part of who she is. In some ways, she has always been the heart and humanity of the Avengers and was what brought them together in both their first and final run, in The Avengers and Avengers: Endgame, respectively. And in Black Widow, Natasha’s heart and need to help others is what drives the story. At a point in the film, when reuniting with Natasha after 20 years apart, Milena asks the spy how did she keep her heart, even after all that she’s been through. This is incredibly important because, again, Natasha’s heart is what let her survive all of that and still be a good person in the end. Overall, this movie is about women fighting together to get back the power that was taken from them by men. And this is literal since the Red Room brainwashed and controlled the widows and gave them absolutely no free will.
Even though love and hope is at the core of the MCU, make no mistake, Marvel’s latest installment is a great action movie. There is even an entire action sequence during a free fall. And what makes it even better is that it is very clear that this movie was directed by a woman in these scenes, as you see no boobs or butts close-ups and none of the women fighting each other are sexualized to appeal to men. And Black Widow, actually, is the first MCU movie to be completely directed by a woman, Cate Shortland.
In the end, even though Black Widow’s solo film should have come sooner, maybe the silver lining of this timing is that since it was done today, the film was done with more care and attention. Additionally, if it were done five years ago, for example, it probably would’ve been directed by a man and not be as empowering as it was. Because, honestly, a solo movie for Natasha with the portrayal she used to have at the beginning of the MCU, as a very sexualized spy, would not have done anyone any good.
So, yes, even though it is a little late, Black Widow works perfectly as both a goodbye for Natasha and an introduction to Yelena, and it definitely helped fan’s longing for new Marvel projects.
