Black Widow
Natalia Alianovna Romanova
Movie · Phase 4
Black Widow
2021 · 134 min
On the run after Civil War, Natasha is hunted by a masked operative who copies her fighting style and finds herself dragged back to the fake Ohio family she was assigned as a child. Yelena, the…
The Multiverse SagaDisney+79%Released
The story
On the run after Civil War, Natasha is hunted by a masked operative who copies her fighting style and finds herself dragged back to the fake Ohio family she was assigned as a child. Yelena, the little sister from that cover story, has been freed from chemical mind control and wants to burn the Red Room down.
The film is a Bond pastiche about a woman who was told her whole life she chose this, and is a prequel with an ending everyone already knows. Its real function was introducing Florence Pugh's Yelena, who walks off with the film and the franchise's next five years.
Key facts
- Release date
- 9 Jul 2021
- Status
- Released
- Phase
- Phase 4
- Saga
- The Multiverse Saga
- Runtime
- 134 min
- Certificate
- PG-13
- Director
- Cate Shortland
- Writers
- Eric Pearson
- Streaming
- Disney+
- Timeline placement
- 2016 — between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, with a 1995 Ohio prologue and a 2024 coda
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Scarlett Johansson | Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow |
| Florence Pugh | Yelena Belova |
| David Harbour | Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian |
| Rachel Weisz | Melina Vostokoff |
| Ray Winstone | Dreykov |
| Olga Kurylenko | Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster |
Characters
Easter eggs
- The post-credits scene at Natasha's grave has Valentina Allegra de Fontaine siccing Yelena on Hawkeye, setting up the Hawkeye series.
- Alexei claims he fought Captain America in the 1980s, which is impossible and which he clearly believes.
- Rick Mason, the fixer Natasha calls, is 'the Agent' from the comics and a long-running Nick Fury associate.
- Moonraker plays on the family television, one of several nods to the Roger Moore Bond films the movie is styled after.
- Budapest, referenced as a shared mission since 2012's Avengers, is finally shown and turns out to be where Dreykov's daughter died.
- Taskmaster's photographic reflexes replay moves from Captain America, Black Panther, Ronin's sword work and Spider-Man's acrobatics.
- Yelena's obsession with her multi-pocketed vest becomes the running gag that pays off in Hawkeye and Thunderbolts*.
- The Red Guardian suit's ill fit and stretched seams are a deliberate joke about a super-soldier who peaked in the Soviet era.
Trivia
- Cate Shortland was hired largely on the strength of her German-language film Lore, and was Scarlett Johansson's preferred choice.
- The film was delayed roughly fourteen months by the pandemic and released simultaneously in cinemas and on Disney+ Premier Access.
- Johansson sued Disney over the hybrid release, alleging breach of contract; the suit was settled in September 2021.
- Florence Pugh's Yelena was designed from the outset as a successor character, and Marvel signed her to a multi-picture deal.
- Taskmaster's gender-swapped identity twist was kept out of all marketing and drew significant criticism from comic readers.
- The Red Room's collapsing sky-fortress finale was shot with practical wind rigs and freefall wire work in Norway and Budapest.
- Ray Winstone's Dreykov was written as a deliberately unimpressive man, with Shortland describing him as banal rather than monstrous.
Box office
- Budget
- $200 million
- Worldwide
- $379.8 million
- Domestic
- $183.7 million
Reviews
Critics
79%
Black Widow's deeper themes are drowned out in the MCU noise, but it remains a solidly entertaining standalone adventure with Scarlett Johansson's charismatic lead performance.
The MarvelGossips verdict
Ten years too late and still worth having, mostly for the Ohio family dinner and Pugh's arrival. Dreykov is one of Marvel's flattest villains and Taskmaster is squandered on a twist nobody wanted. As a send-off it is respectful; as a Natasha Romanoff film it is oddly reluctant to be about her.
Related titles
Frequently asked
When does Black Widow take place?
In 2016, between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, with Natasha on the run from the Accords. The post-credits scene jumps forward to 2024, after her death in Endgame.
Who is Yelena Belova?
Natasha's fake sister from a Red Room cover family and a graduate of the same programme. Florence Pugh's Yelena has since appeared in Hawkeye and Thunderbolts*, and is confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday.
Why was there a lawsuit over Black Widow?
Scarlett Johansson's contract tied her compensation to theatrical box office, and Disney released the film simultaneously on Disney+ Premier Access. She sued for breach of contract in July 2021 and the parties settled that September.
Is Taskmaster different from the comics?
Substantially. The comics' Taskmaster is Tony Masters, a mercenary trainer with photographic reflexes. The film makes the character Antonia Dreykov, a mind-controlled woman weaponised by her father.