Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Starring Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova / Black Widow), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian), Rachel Weisz (Melina Vostokoff / Black Widow), Olga Kurylenko (Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster), William Hurt (U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross), and Ray Winstone (General Dreykov), with a post-credits appearance by Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and Jeremy Renner providing the voice for Clint Barton / Hawkeye)
BLACK WIDOW
Directed by Cate Shortland
Produced by Kevin Feige
Written by Eric Pearson with Ned Benson and Jac Schaeffer
Music By Lorne Balfe
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Run Time: 2 hours and 14 minutes
World Premier: June 29, 2021, in London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, and New York City
Opening Weekend Box Office: $80 million (North America)
Worldwide Box Office: $379 million
Disney+ Premier Access and digital Downloads: $125 million
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Fun Black Widow Facts
In August-2017, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige organized his latest Marvel Studios Creative Retreat in an effort to begin developing plans for Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The goal was to develop a blueprint for the next five-years of Marvel Studios projects post-The Infinity Saga. No public announcements were made, but Feige and his team first discussed visions for future Marvel Studios projects such as Black Widow, Eternals, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on this retreat.
On July 12, 2018, Cate Shortland was signed by Marvel Studios to direct the upcoming Black Widow film. This would make Shortland the first female to ever direct a MCU film produced by Marvel studios in a solo role. Anna Boden would co-direct Captain Marvel aside Ryan Fleck in 2019, and Chloe Zhao would be hired to direct 2021’s Eternals.
On October 11, 2018, reports emerged stating that Marvel Studios had extended the contract of Scarlett Johansson beyond the upcoming Avengers: Endgame, paying her a reported $15 million to star in the upcoming Black Widow film. This contract was a big win for the veteran MCU actress as her pay matched what was paid to Chris Evans for Captain America: Civil War and to Chris Hemsworth for Thor: Ragnarok, putting Johansson in the upper echelon of Marvel Studios stars. Black Widow would be Johansson’s first starring role in an individual-based Marvel Studios film, making her just the second female to land the lead part in a feature-length MCU movie following Brie Larsen, who starred as Carol Danvers in 2019’s Captain Marvel.
On, November 12, 2018, Black Widow co-creator Stan Lee died at the age of 95.
On April 3, 2019, actor David Harbour joined the cast of Marvel Studios’ Black Widow film.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On April 26, 2019, Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame was released in theaters. The film all but confirmed that Marvel Studios’ Black Widow film would be a prequel, as Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff / The Black Widow was killed-off in Endgame, sacrificing her life so that Clint Barton / Hawkeye could acquire the Soul Stone from the past and take it back to The Avengers in the year 2023 where it would be used to undo what Thanos had done when he Snapped half of all life throughout their Universe out of existence.
On Tuesday, May 28, 2019: Black Widow commenced filming.
On July 20, 2019: Marvel Studios presented their full Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic Con. The Hall H panel marked Marvel Studios’ landmark tenth appearance at San Diego Comic Con following previous appearances in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017. As part of the presentation, Kevin Feige welcomed the cast of Marvel Studios’ upcoming Black Widow film, which included Scarlett Johansson, David Harbour, Florence Pugh and Rachel Weisz (Melina). Feige confirmed that Taskmaster would be the film’s primary antagonist. Black Widow was set to release on May 1, 2020.
On October 6, 2019, Black Widow wrapped filming.
In Black Widow, Florence Pugh portrays Yelena Belova. This character was created by Devin Grayson and J.G. Jones, debuting in 1999’s Inhumans # 5. Belova has carried the Black Widow mantle within the Marvel Universe and has been both a hero and villain, who has been both a friend and enemy of Natasha Romanoff. In the film’s credits, we see Yelena visit Natasha’s grave where she mingles with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Contessa Valentina Alegra de Fontaine. Dreyfus’ character was intended to be first introduced in this Black Widow scene, but due to COVID and all of the delays it caused, she ended up debuting in Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and The Winter Soldier instead. In Black Widow, we see Fontaine send Yelena after Clint Barton, insisting that Barton was to blame for Natasha’s death. You can what happened from there by viewing Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye series on Disney+.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
In Black Widow, David Harbour portrays Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, who was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, debuting in 1967’s Avengers # 43. In simplest terms, Red Guardian is a Soviet version of Captain America. In the comics, Alexei was not the original Red Guardian, and he was in fact the husband of Natasha Romanoff / The Black Widow, so to say the least, his character was significantly revised as he was brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the comics, Red Guardian remained loyal to the KGB while Natasha Romanoff defected to the United States. This ultimately put them in conflict with each other, but Alexei ultimately showed his true heroic colors when he sacrificed his life to save the lives of Natasha and Steve Rogers.
In Black Widow, Olga Kurylenko portrays Taskmaster; a character created by David Michelinie and George Perez, debuting in 1980’s Avengers # 105. In the comics, Taskmaster is a male who boasts the ability to mimic the fighting techniques of anyone he sees fight. He has been both a hero and a villain in the Marvel comics, and I know him best for his recurring roles in Deadpool stories. For Black Widow, Taskmaster was made over to be a female character, devoid of the personality that most comic book readers associate with the character.
Upon the MCU (Sacred) Timeline, Black Widow is set between the events of MCU Phase Three films Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, continuing Natasha’s story after her falling out with Tony Stark as she embarked upon a life on the run from Thaddeus Ross.
On November 12, 2019, the Disney+ Streaming Service launched, with several MCU films available to subscribers upon its launch.
On December 3, 2019: Marvel Studios released the first teaser trailer for Black Widow. The trailer gave viewers their first glimpse of David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. William Hurt’s Secretary Thaddeus Ross was also briefly seen in the trailer as was Taskmaster.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On March 9, 2020, Marvel Studios released another trailer for Black Widow.
On March 17, 2020, Marvel Studios announced that Black Widow would no longer be released on May 1, 2020, due to concerns over the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak. A new release date was not announced. Five-days later, Marvel Studios completely shut down due to continued concerns over the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
On April 3, 2020, Marvel Studios announced its revised film slate after the previously announced Phase Four slate was shaken-up by the Coronavirus. Black Widow (and pretty much the entire slate in fact) was delayed six-months, pushed back to November 6, 2020.
On September 23, 2020, Marvel Studios pushed its entire upcoming film slate back yet again due to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic. This time around, Black Widow was moved all the way back to May 7, 2021, a full year from its originally announced release date.
On December 10, 2020, The Walt Disney Company hosted a conference call that was dubbed “Investor’s Day” in an effort to generate revenue in what had been the most challenging year in company history with the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic shutting down film and television productions, closing theaters, canceling cons and conventions, and closing theme parks. As part of the Marvel Studios presentation, Kevin Feige confirmed that Black Widow would debut exclusively in theaters on May 7, 2021, thanking fans for their patience. Feige’s announcement came amidst widespread rumors and hopes from select fans that Black Widow‘s launch would be moved to Disney+.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
On March 23, 2021, Marvel Studios announced that Black Widow had been pushed back yet again, with a new release date of July 9, 2021. It was furthermore announced that Black Widow would now premiere in theaters as well as on Disney+ concurrently as part of The Walt Disney Company’s Premiere Access Disney+ initiative.
On April 3, 2021, Marvel Studios dropped the final trailer for Black Widow to rave reviews and increased anticipation for the first feature film that would be released by the Studio since the beginning of the Pandemic.
On May 3, 2021, Marvel Studios dropped a Phase Four Preview Trailer that served as an emotional tribute to movie-going, complete with a voice-over from the late Stan Lee.
Black Widow made headlines upon its release for emerging as the best performing film since the onset of the COVID-19 worldwide Pandemic. Black Widow‘s $80-million opening weekend was the best opening for any film since 2019. Black Widow also accumulated $55 million in purchases on Disney+ as part of the Premier Access campaign. Six days after its release, Black Widow crossed the $100 million mark domestically, emerging as the first film to cross that mark since the onset of the Pandemic. Despite its accomplishments, Black Widow divided the film industry, with theater chain representatives voicing their displeasure with the Disney+ release, proclaiming it to be the death knell of the film industry. Disney was widely criticized by film analysts as having sabotaged not just theaters chains, but its own film, suggesting the movie would have earned far more money had its release been exclusive to theaters. Black Widow was the first MCU film to hit theaters in nearly two full years (since Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2, 2019).
On July 29, 2021, Scarlett Johansson sued The Walt Disney Company over its release of Black Widow on Disney+ via Premier Access, stating that this move by Disney was a violation of the contract that she signed to star in the film and that it hindered how profitable the film could have potentially been.
On September 30, 2021, The Walt Disney Company reached a settlement with actress Scarlett Johansson, keeping the multi-million-dollar lawsuit Johansson had previously filed, out of court. The settlement was for a reported $40 million.
Black Widow marked the fifth MCU appearance by William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross following previous appearances in The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Sadly, Black Widow also marked Hurt’s final time portraying the Ross character, as he passed away on March 13, 2022, at the age of 71. The Ross character will live on in the MCU, with actor Harrison Ford cast to replace Hurt in the role. Ford will debut as Ross in the upcoming Marvel Studios film Captain America: Brave New World.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
My Black Widow Review
Black Widow was an emotional viewing experience for me when it was first released. It came out around 15-months after the onset of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic, and after multiple delays and back-and-forth decisions, it was finally made available for viewing nearly 15-months after it was supposed to come out. Its release was a cause for celebration for fans like me. Of course, there were far more important things than superhero movies in the world, but personally, I welcomed the escape.
There had been so much death and so much sickness and so much violence and anger and turmoil since the Coronavirus Outbreak. Very few things made sense and nothing seemed safe. The word “normal” had taken on an all-new meaning for billions of people, and I am not going to get into the politics of any of it here because this isn’t that kind of site but sitting down with my family and watching Black Widow on its release date was a small, comforting, and welcomed piece of normal. I for one am so grateful that Disney / Marvel Studios decided to release the film on Disney+. I was not ready to take my family of four back into a crowded theater again at this point, and the $30 Premier Access fee was actually a bargain for us as a family compared to what it typically costs for us to all go out to the movies together. Watching this film was special and encouraging and immensely satisfying given the state of everything, and I really cherished the experience.
Sentimental feelings aside, Black Widow was a solid but unspectacular production for me. There were things that I really liked, and there were things that I didn’t much care for.
From the top and on the positive side, I have to start with Scarlett Johansson. I think as viewers it’s easy to take for granted how excellent some of these MCU stars really are. I have written about how great Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Elizabeth Olsen all are countless times, and the same is true for Scarlett Johansson, and just how truly great she was in this film and just how much she has meant to the Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow character cannot be overstated. She has been a highlight of every single MCU film in which she has portrayed Natasha Romanoff, and make no mistake, it was far past time that Scarlett Johansson got to star in her own Marvel Studios feature film and she gave everything that she had to this role and to this movie. Appropriately, we got to see plenty of Natasha Romanoff kicking ass here, but the moments where Scarlett really shined were those shared with her fellow cast-mates.
The family dynamic in Black Widow is one of its greatest strengths, and she played off each of her supporting cast-mates in ways that both allowed her and them to shine equally as bright. Scarlett had different kinds of chemistry with Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz, and that chemistry allowed this movie to flow and kept viewers cheering for the intended heroes despite their checkered pasts. Overall, this was Natasha’s story, and it was Scarlett’s movie, but everyone got their respective moments to shine.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Black Widow opened with a flashback to 1995 and a look at a much younger Natasha living her life in the State of Ohio in the United States. We met Natasha’s sister Yelena and her mother Melina, and we saw some really cool bonding moments between the three females before it was all exposed as a ruse upon the return home from work of Alexei. This was no family of four actually, they were each of them Soviet spies, living out a three-year parody that got a little real for each of them at times, particularly little Yelena.
The opening scene was really exciting, well-filmed, and well-acted. Ever Anderson (Natasha) and Violet McGraw (Yelena) were both great in these scenes, and David Harbour (Alexei) shined as a wide-eyed, devil-may-care Super Soldier, really flexing his action star abilities. This was an entertaining way to start the film, but from there things turned real dark, real quick as the quartet landed in Cuba where a terrified Yelena and a rebellious and defensive Natasha were taken back into Red Room custody.
The ensuing montage showed the horrors that they (and others like them) were subjected to courtesy of the Red Room set to a slow and haunting cover of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit by Malia J. This entire sequence was really well done, but it was also tragic and sad and melon collie; driving home the fact that this was the story of a dead Avenger and that things were going to be heavy at times.
Flash-forward to more current times, we saw Natasha fleeing the pursuit of Thaddeus Ross due to her betrayal of “Team Stark” in Captain America: Civil War. She assaulted the King of Wakanda as Ross puts it at one point, and that is something he would not tolerate. Natasha easily avoided Ross though, and after meeting up with an old friend and laying low off the grid, Natasha encountered Taskmaster on the way into town, and this was our first-time seeing Taskmaster in action.
I loved this initial showdown between Natasha and Taskmaster. It was fierce and explosive, and I thought Taskmaster’s look was fine. Sadly, I feel like the character peaked in this early scene, but I’ll get to Taskmaster more in a bit.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
As it turned out, Taskmaster was after a substance that we were introduced to earlier in the film that would free the mind of any Black Widow exposed to it. We saw this happen with Yelena Belova, and Yelena sent the substance to Natasha due to her world renown of being an Avenger. A wounded Natasha returned to Budapest after escaping her confrontation with Taskmaster with her life, and there she encountered an all-grown-up Yelena, who eventually informed Natasha that the Red Room was still up and running and that its leader (General Dreykov) was still alive and well and powerful, despite Natasha believing to have killed Dreykov years earlier when she defected to S.H.I.E.L.D.
This reunion with Natasha and Yelena was perfect. I loved how they used many of the same moves and techniques and how their fight ended at a stalemate. This was a really fun sequence and the ensuing scenes of conversation between the two “sisters” were wonderful. Yelena Belova is not a comic book character that I have much of a connection with, but I was instantly won over to this version of the character through Florence Pugh’s spunky, mouthy, and charming performance.
Wanting to take the fight to the Red Room, but oblivious to where it was actually located, Natasha and Yelena decided to team-up in order to break Alexei out of prison and David Harbour was pure gold in these scenes set within more modern times! We see the former Red Guardian as an out-of-shape prisoner that is still the baddest man in the room, and who loves nothing more than showcasing his strength while bragging about his past exploits (which includes, he claims, some mingling with Captain America). Alexei is loud, proud, and boisterous and he is elated to discover that “his girls” have come to break him out of captivity. The prison break made for an incredible action sequence complete with guns, helicopters, and even an avalanche! I absolutely loved the white suits worn by Natasha and Yelena here, and even better than all of the action was the interaction between the oblivious Alexei, who failed to understand that he ever did anything wrong by them.
This led to the “family reunion” as Alexei, Natasha, and Yelena were reunited with Melina, who was still in modern times working on behalf of the Red Room in the field of mind control. In fact, she’d done a lot of impressive things with her pet pigs, which were worth including just for one being named Alexei alone! Anyway, I loved the scene with these four getting reacquainted some 20-years after they all last saw each other. Melina played coy through most of it while Alexei tried on his old Red Guardian outfit which he then proceeded to wear to dinner. David Harbour was just off the charts great here, and Florence Pugh shined as well as she reminded everyone that the entire facade that they carried out was entirely real to her. Alexei was dad. Melina was mom. And Natasha was her sister. A very sweet scene followed with Yelena and Alexei until the Red Room arrived, having been alerted by Melina.
Back at Red Room Headquarters, Dreykov found himself one-on-one with Melina while Alexei and Natasha were locked up and Yelena was subjected to potential brain surgery. Melina was soon revealed to be Natasha (courtesy of technology we first saw in the MCU in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and after a long scene of Dreykov proclaiming his own greatness and how screwed the world was about to be when he controlled the mind of an Avenger, Natasha ultimately broke the proverbial spell that Dreykov had over her and physically lashed out at him, leading to a s showdown pitting her against the other Black Widow’s at the Red Room. Yelena broke all of this up by freeing the minds of the Widow’s and this led to a huge action sequence that was beautifully shot and featured Yelena disposing of Dreykov, which was a great moment for her. From there, Natasha freed the mind of Taskmaster, and I guess, all was well as Ross closed in to try and take custody of Romanoff again, to no avail.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
So, for me, Black Widow was really, really, good … until the third act or so. Things just sort of fell apart from there. This movie was at its best when it was exploring family values and the complications of relationships. Talking about the final act specifically, it was big and bold and awe-inspiring in its scope and style, but it just lacked the emotional punch that it should have had. Once Alexei gets hit with those tranquilizer darts, the movie suffers a downward spiral in my opinion.
First of all, Dreykov was horrible. Like, bad. I hated this character, not in the way of wanting Natasha or Yelena to beat him, but in that “Go away. Get off my screen” sort of way. He was over the top in all the wrong ways, boring, annoying, and pretty cringeworthy. I hated the performance of Ray Winstone and his entire interrogation or whatever it was with Natasha just felt dirty and slimy and hard to watch. I thought his mind control over her was unnecessary and was used as a cheap gimmick to extend the scene, and just nothing about Dreykov worked. I have no problem whatsoever with labeling Dreykov the worst MCU villain ever. Yes, even worse than Malekith. Ugh. Dreykov was a major downer for this film.
Another major downer was his daughter Antonia. If you’ve read my other reviews on this site, you should know that I have no issue with gender swaps in comic book movies. I just don’t care. Yes, I read comic books, and yes, I have my attachments to certain characters, but when I’m watching a comic book movie, all I care about is whether or not the plot is interesting / entertaining and whether the characters service that plot in interesting / entertaining ways. For me, Taskmaster was not one of those characters. Not because she was a woman, but because she was boring and robotic and the big reveal that Taskmaster was Dreykov’s daughter was telegraphed a mile away and extremely anticlimactic. I appreciate what the whole ordeal meant in terms of redeeming Natasha as a character and all, but all of that could have been done better, and as a Taskmaster fan, the MCU’s take on the character was underwhelming and even a bit frustrating, given the potential.
I also was not a fan of the way the movie just flat-out ignored Natasha’s penultimate altercation with Thaddeus Ross. Rather than show us anything, the director decided to show us nothing! Not how they negotiated, not how they escaped … nothing! It just wasn’t there, and I’m not sure why that turned out the way that it did, but it did nothing for this narrative.
All of that being said, every hit can’t be a homerun and every swing can’t be a hit, and for me, both Dreykov and Dreykov’s daughter, as well as the outright ignoring of Natasha’s showdown with Ross (which was blatantly teased at the beginning of the film) were strikeouts that hindered my overall enjoyment of the movie.
Still, there was plenty to appreciate, and this is far from the worst MCU movie. Again, Scarlett Johansson was at her best here, and Florence Pugh stole the damn movie with her incredible performance, and I thought David Harbour was really, really good as Red Guardian. I also liked the post-credits with Valentina Allegra de Fontaine sending Yelena after Clint Barton!
Overall, Black Widow was a movie about what the word family means and about the struggle of not allowing one’s past to dictate their future. Its message was pure, and it’s strong-women narrative was needed and noble, but things fell apart near the end, which made the main course pale in comparison to the appetizers.
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Highlights of Black Widow:
Scarlett Johansson is Natasha Romanoff
Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Chemistry Between Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh
Family Dynamic Amongst the Cast
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov
Incredible Opening Sequence
Smells Like Teen Spirit cover by Malia J and Opening Montage
Inaugural Taskmaster vs Natasha Romanoff Fight
Budapest Revelations
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Humor and Heart from Surprising Places
White Widow Costumes
Well-Choreographed Fight Sequences
Post-credits scene teasing Yelena vs Hawkeye
Marvel Studios / The Walt Disney Company
Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:
Yelena Belova. Alexei Shostakov. Melina Vostokoff. Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster. General Dreykov.
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