Black Widow is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Cate Shortland from a screenplay by Eric Pearson, and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. Set after Captain America: Civil War (2016), the film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past.
Plot[]
In 1995, Russian undercover agents, super-soldier Alexei Shostakov and Black Widow Melina Vostokoff, pose as a normal family in Ohio with their surrogate daughters Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova. When the mission to steal S.H.I.E.L.D. intel is complete, the family escapes to Cuba and rendezvous with their boss, General Dreykov, who has Romanoff and Belova taken to the Red Room for training. Years pass and Shostakov is imprisoned in Russia, while Romanoff defects to S.H.I.E.L.D. after bombing Dreykov's Budapest office, apparently killing him and his young daughter Antonia; an act that haunts Romanoff.
In 2016, Romanoff is a fugitive for violating the Sokovia Accords. She escapes from U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross and flees to a safehouse in Norway supplied by Rick Mason. Meanwhile, Belova kills a rogue former Black Widow but comes in contact with a synthetic gas that neutralizes the Red Room's chemical mind-control agent. Belova sends the antidote to Romanoff in the hope that she will return to help Belova free the other Widows. When Romanoff unknowingly drives off with the antidote, she is attacked by Taskmaster, who is after it. Romanoff manages to escape Taskmaster and realizes that the antidote came from Belova. The two reunite in Budapest, where Romanoff learns Dreykov is still alive and the Red Room is still active. Shortly after, they are attacked by Black Widows and Romanoff and Belova evade the Widows and Taskmaster before meeting Mason, who supplies them with a helicopter.
Romanoff and Belova break Shostakov out of prison to learn Dreykov's location. He tells them to speak with Vostokoff, who lives on a farm outside Saint Petersburg, where she developed the chemical mind control process used on the Widows. There, Belova reveals that while they were not a real family, she believed they were so. Vostokoff admits she sent their location to Dreykov, whose agents arrive and take them to the Red Room, an aerial facility.
Vostokoff and Romanoff use face mask technology to switch places before being captured, allowing Vostokoff to free Shostakov and Belova from their restraints. Meanwhile, Romanoff confronts Dreykov, who sees through her disguise. Romanoff learns Taskmaster is Antonia, who suffered damage so severe that Dreykov had to put a chip in her head, turning her into the perfect soldier, capable of mimicking the actions of anyone she sees, including several Avengers. Romanoff attempts to kill Dreykov, but fails to harm him due to a pheromone lock he has installed in every Widow. Dreykov reveals that he controls Widows worldwide via his desk console. Romanoff intentionally breaks her nose, severing a nerve in her nasal passage to negate the pheromone, and then attacks Dreykov. Shostakov battles Taskmaster, while Vostokoff attempts to take out one of the facility's engines and Belova searches for the other Widows, who are sent to protect Dreykov. Together, Shostakov and Belova lock Antonia in a cell.
Dreykov escapes as the Widows attack Romanoff, but Belova creates an antidote bomb that releases the Widows from the mind control. Romanoff gets into the control desk and copies the locations of the other Widows worldwide as the facility begins to explode and fall. Romanoff retrieves the two surviving vials of the antidote and frees Taskmaster from the locked cell. Vostokoff and Shostakov escape via a plane just as Belova takes out Dreykov's helicopter, killing him. Romanoff gives Belova a parachute before battling Taskmaster in freefall. After landing, Romanoff uses the antidote on Taskmaster, freeing her from servitude. The freed Widows arrive as Belova, Vostokoff, and Shostakov say goodbye to Romanoff. She gives Belova the last antidote vial and the portable drive, telling her to find and free the other, still mind-controlled, Widows. As they leave with Antonia, Romanoff awaits Ross and his men, who have arrived to apprehend her.
Two weeks later, Romanoff reunites with Mason, who supplies her with a Quinjet. She leaves, intending to free the detained Avengers on the Raft.
In a post-credits scene set after Romanoff's death, Belova encounters Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine at Romanoff's grave and is tasked to kill Clint Barton, the man whom de Fontaine claims is responsible for Romanoff's death.
Cast[]
- Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow / Melina Vostokoff (disguised)
- Ever Anderson as Young Natasha Romanoff
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Violet McGraw as Young Yelena Belova
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian
- O-T Fagbenle as Rick Mason
- William Hurt as Secretary Thaddeus Ross
- Ray Winstone as General Dreykov
- Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff / Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (disguised)
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (post-credit scene; uncredited)
- Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster
- Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Young Antonia Dreykov
- Nanna Blondell as Ingrid
- Jordyn Curet as Young Ingrid
- Michelle Lee as Oksana
- Liani Samuel as Lerato
- Olivier Richters as Ursa
- Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye (voice and footage; uncredited)
- Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther (footage)
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki (footage)
- Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America (footage)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the twenty fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- This is the first film of Phase Four.
- This is the first film centering on Black Widow.
- This film is set after Captain America: Civil War (2016).
- This will be Scarlett Johansson's eighth time playing Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow.
- This will be the second female led superhero film from Marvel Cinematic Universe after Captain Marvel.
- Scarlett Johansson describes the film as "Its Own Genre" and even named Logan (2017) an Influence along with The Fugitive (1993) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
- Black Widow is the third film to be set as a prequel the first being Captain America: The First Avenger and the second Captain Marvel.
- Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Alice Englert, Dar Zuzovsky and Florence Pugh were considered for the role of Yelena Belova with Watson being the front-runner. Ultimately, Pugh was cast. Coincidentally, Watson and Ronan were Pugh's co-stars in Little Women (2019)
- This will be the second standalone movie in Marvel Cinematic Universe after The Incredible Hulk.
- Released 10 years since Natash Romanoff's introduction as the Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010).
- This is the first female-led solo movie to open a Phase 4 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- The Black Widow film was originally scheduled to release on May 1st, 2020. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic outbreak (Covid-19), the film was postponed until November 6th, 2020, then delayed again until May 7th, 2021, and again delayed to July 9th, 2021. Black Widow is just one of the many films to be postponed due to Covid-19.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus was supposed to make her first appearance as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine in the film but made her appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021) instead.
- Chloé Zhao was first considerd to direct the film but choose Eternals (2021) instead.
- The film's cast includes two Oscar winners: William Hurt and Rachel Weisz; and two Oscar nominees: Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh. By coincidence, both Johansson and Pugh competed together in 2020 for many Best Supporting Actress awards, including the Academy Award and BAFTA Award, for their roles in Jojo Rabbit (2019) and Little Women (2019), respectively.
- David Harbour plays the character Alexei in Black Widow (2021), and on Stranger Things 3 (2019), he plays Jim Hopper who kidnaps a Russian scientist named Alexei.
- This is the first solo movie centered around a character who is deceased in the main MCU timeline.
- This is David Harbour's third comic-book feature, after Suicide Squad (2016) and Hellboy (2019).
- Previously, Hellboy (2019) director Neil Marshall had expressed interest in directing the film, but was not approached as Marvel is seeking a female director.
- The eighth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to be filmed in Panavision (anamorphic), after The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
- André Holland was considered for the villain role but O-T Fagbenle was ultimately cast.
- In the comics, Daredevil and Black Widow were a couple and Charlie Cox from Netflix's Daredevil (2015) wants a crossover movie.
- Both Scarlett Johansson and Marvel expressed interest in a potential solo film several times over the following years, before development progressed with the hiring of Jac Schaeffer and Cate Shortland in 2018, even though Shortland has no experience in directing big budget action films.
- David Hayter wrote a script, and was set to direct in 2004, when the character's film rights were still at Artisan Entertainment/Lions Gate.
- It's the twenty-fourth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the first movie post-Infinity Saga, after Spider-Man: Far From Home.
- Nicole Perlman wrote a treatment for a Black Widow movie around 2010/2011.
- On July 6, 2020, it was announced that Marvel Studios executives, including Kevin Feige, were so impressed with Florence Pugh's performance as Yelena Belova that they plan to include her in future MCU films and she may even become the new Black Widow. In fact, Feige stated that this film was written to showcase Belova just as much as Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff.
- The film will be released on November 6, 2020, making the longest gap between two films since The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, as Spider-Man: Far From Home was released on July 2, 2019, making a gap of approximately 17 months between Black Widow and Far From Home.
- This is the fourth Disney film to be released on Disney+ as a Premiere Access title, following Mulan, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Cruella.
- This is also the first MCU film to be released on Disney+ as a Premiere Access title.
- Thus, it is the third Disney film in 2021 to be released in theaters and on Disney+ on the same day after Raya and the Last Dragon and Cruella.
- Coincidentally, all of these films have a female lead protagonist.
- This film marks the longest gap between the last film of an MCU phase and the first film in another phase.
- This is the last Marvel Cinematic Universe movie that Stan Lee produced before his death.
- This is the first time Lorne Balfe composes the music score for a feature-length film distributed by Disney.
| Phase Four |
|---|
| Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |