The next big-screen installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Black Widow. That’s right, the Russian spy-turned-heroic Avenger is finally starring in her very own movie! It may seem a bit strange given her fate in Avengers: Endgame, but this film doesn’t take place in the present. Marvel has said the time frame of the film will take place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It will be nice to see what exactly went on following the events of the Civil War that we didn’t get to see. It should also be exciting to experience more of Natasha’s mysterious past.

Let’s break down and analyze Black Widow‘s first teaser trailer and final trailer to see what information about the movie can be inferred and how it could affect the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Black Widow Teaser Trailer:

 

In the beginning of the teaser, we see a familiar flashback to Natasha’s training back in Russia. We’ve seen this same flashback in Avengers: Age of Ultron while she was under the influence of Scarlet Witch’s mind-altering powers. This is the Red Room, where the brain-washing Black Widow program is held. It’s clear this movie may present a lot of looking back for Natasha.

Immediately following are brief flashbacks to her time as an Avenger. There’s a clear focus on Hawkeye during this part. We know that he and Natasha played large roles in each other’s backstories, so it makes sense that there would be a focus on him in her fond memories. However, it makes one wonder if perhaps this Black Widow movie should have been focused on Natasha and Clint’s pasts before they were Avengers and the mission they were on together when they met that is mentioned in the first Avengers movie.

We see a brief look at General Thunderbolt Ross, helping tie into other MCU movies like The Incredible Hulk and Captain America: Civil War. It makes one wonder what he’d be doing here. Did those who ran the Black Widow program want him taken out, or vice versa? Ross is easily the youngest we’ve ever seen him here. This indicates that there may be scenes in the film that take place quite a long time ago. It makes one wonder if Natasha and Ross have known each other for longer than we realized.

This teaser also gives us our first look at Yelena Belova, another Marvel character with similar origins to Natasha who also uses the Black Widow name. It’ll be fun for comic book fans and MCU fans to see her in action. Here, she is played by the Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh, who will likely do well in the role. Perhaps they will use this film as a “passing of the torch” from Johansson to Pugh to become the new Black Widow in the MCU.

Natasha says that they “have to go back to where it all started.” She’s claiming they need to go back to the Black Widow training facility. The question, however, is why? Is there a sudden need to be concerned about them where there wasn’t before?

This teaser trailer allows us to finally see the MCU’s Taskmaster, the man in the mask and bow and arrow. The skull-masked villain is a skilled tactician and an adept martial artist. He often fights with a sword and shield, so it’s interesting to only see him armed with a bow in this teaser. The other odd details seen for this version of the comic book criminal is that his mask is barely skull-like and he’s not wearing his iconic hood. There are certainly off choices being made for him here, but we’ll see how it plays out in the final version of the film.

We also get our first look at David Harbour as Red Guardian, who is essentially the Russian version of Captain America. It’s cool to finally see a live action version of the Marvel hero, even if he’s “gotten fat,” as the teaser humorously points out.

Red Guardian points out that Natasha, the others, and himself are “family, together again.” It’s clear that this core group has worked together before, but we don’t know to what extent. It will be interesting to learn about this group’s past.

The secret agent missions and grounded hand-to-hand combat absolutely scream Captain America: the Winter Soldier vibes, which is rather exciting given that Winter Soldier is one of the best movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Black Widow Final Trailer

 

Yelena starts off the trailer by lying about Natasha’s story. She’s saying what she tells people about her sister who is no longer around. It’s interesting that she’s referring to her as her sister. Are they biological sisters in this version or is it a term used by anyone trained in the Black Widow program? It’s also interesting that she’s lying. Is she doing so to protect Natasha, or is she ashamed that she left?

Natasha comments “Before I was an Avenger, I made mistakes.” This film will clearly focus on Natasha’s past and hopefully we’ll learn about those mistakes. However, a film showing us those events and mistakes happening could be more interesting than them telling us they happened in the past. It’ll also be interesting to find out how Natasha’s past ties into or affects the rest of the cinematic universe, if at all.

We’re told that Taskmaster is the one controlling the Red Room, where the Black Widow training program is held. He potentially has an army of Black Widows he could unleash on the world. It will be exciting to learn what his plans are with the Red Room and what that means for the main group of heroes.

Yelena makes the comment that “they’re manipulated; fully conscience but no choices,” most likely referring to the current trainees in the Black Widow program. This tells us a little more about what exactly is going on at the Red Room and what Taskmaster is up to. It seems like Taskmaster is essentially brainwashing these Black Widows to do his bidding. It looks like we’ll have to wait and see exactly what that bidding entails.

Natasha asks how many others there are, potentially referring to others who want out like Yelena seems to. Yelena replies with “Enough.” Could this lead to a whole team of Black Widows kicking butt together? Let’s hope so, because that could be awesome to see.

As stated earlier, this feels similar to Captain America: the Winter Soldier in the best ways possible. One of the main differences is that it seems, at least from this trailer, to have a darker tone. This darker tone is not something typically seen in the MCU, so if they stick to it in the movie, it could stand out from the other 20+ movies and be a lot of fun.

Seeing Natasha, Yelena, Red Guardian, and Melina sitting around the table having the stereotypical nuclear family vibe is certainly intriguing. Are they related, or did the Black Widow program station together? Perhaps they became as close as family while going off on so many missions together back in the day. Their “family” dynamics should provide fun chemistry and interactions for the film.

From these two trailers, we can assume that even though the movie does not take place before the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it does look back at it a lot and informs us of some of what did happen back then. It appears that Natasha is in a situation that will lead her back to Russia, the Red Room, and her past. The film may be used to pass the Black Widow torch from Natasha to Yelena going forward. This Taskmaster villain is controlling the Black Widow program and is most likely up to no good. Thunderbolt Ross plays a role, likely to tie this story in with the rest of the cinematic universe. On top of all that, the action looks absolutely incredible.

Black Widow was originally set to release on May 1, 2020, but it was pushed back to the November 6th release date of The Eternals (which was pushed back to next year) due to the current pandemic. There is still the potential for the film to be pushed back further depending on the situation with the pandemic closer to the new November release date.