The first Black Widow movie trailer pays homage to Natasha Romoanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) MCU debut in Iron Man 2. The Jon Favreau-directed film brought the Russian spy-turned-Avenger into the universe, making her the third member of Marvel Studios’ Earth Mightiest Heroes’ original roster.
In the 2010 film, Nat was initially deemed a glorified secretary with some special skills. However, as her character progressed throughout her time in the MCU, she’s become a more fleshed out key player in the universe. And while Black Widow suffered a tragic and controversial death in Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios is trying to properly wrap up her story in the hero’s long-awaited Black Widow standalone film directed by Cate Shortland, which is set to hit theaters this May.
Black Widow is primarily set in the two years between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, and will debut some new faces in the MCU like David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Rachel Weisz’s Melina and O-T Fagbenle as Mason. Based on what we’ve seen in trailer, the film will go farther back than Nat’s time as Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) operative with the appearance of a young Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt). Despite the various timeline jumps, the clip didn’t forget to pay tribute to the character’s first foray into the universe with an homage to her iconic hallway fight scene in Iron Man 2.
The two-minute Black Widow trailer wraps up with a recreation of Nat’s hallway scene from Iron Man 2. The shot’s more stylized, however, with the frame mainly in black and only illuminated with red light. The character’s figure is also outlined with the same color, including her utility belt and gun holsters on both thighs. The image then zooms out to the reveal of the Black Widow’s title card with the character’s official logo. The decision to pay homage to arguably still the character’s best fight scene thus far in the MCU might be an indication of the type of action set pieces we’ll get in her film - intricate and with a lot of hand-to-hand combat - something that was already teased with her initial scuffle with Yelena Belova at the beginning of the trailer.
As clunky and convoluted as Iron Man 2 was, it did serve as the breeding ground for a lot of eventual MCU plot points - the most important of which is the arrival of Black Widow into the MCU. While Nat’s character has admittedly gotten the shorter end of the stick compared to her fellow founding heroes through the years, finally giving her a well-deserved standalone film despite Black Widow being way too late, is still better than ending her fate in Avengers: Endgame, especially given how they crafted her death. It gives Marvel Studios the opportunity to make up for its mistakes with regard to handling the character - perhaps even justify her demise in Vormir for the Soul Stone when there’s a justified argument that it could’ve been Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) instead.
More: Black Widow Trailer Breakdown: 23 Story Details & Secrets You Missed
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