Here’s All You Need To Know About Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow has been with us since her big debut in Iron Man 2 back in 2010. As I recall, she was busting a chair she was tied to over some thugs head. After the cataclysmic events of Infinity War, it didn’t look like we’d ever see a solo outing for our most venerable heroin. Fortunately, Disney enjoys making money, and Director Cate Shortland was all too happy to walk Widow’s story back to just after the events of Civil War and tell a more personal story. Says Shortland, “I think what’s exciting about the film is we’re playing with the audience’s expectations. We’re exploring parts of Natasha that the audience has absolutely no idea about. We explore her family, love and passion, and you get to see all these facets of her we have never seen before.”
Without super powers to rely on, this film falls into the Winter Soldier territory of a spy thriller. Natasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
According to screenwriter Eric Pearson, the ongoing mystery of Natasha Romanoff was compelling for the filmmakers. “I think she’s the one Avenger who’s shared the least about herself ever since we met her,” he says. “She’s not who she says she is in ‘Iron Man 2’. She chooses to withhold her past and who she is personally from the audience and the other characters. In Black Widow, we get to rip open her past and see what led to her hesitation to open up.”
Alongside Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour portrays Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz is Melina. As the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this movie has been delayed for far too long due to Covid. Now it will launch simultaneously in theatres and on Disney+ with Premier Access on July 9, 2021. So no need to worry about lockdowns! Fortunately here in New Zealand, we have the benefit of being able to choose how we want to take it in
