A decade after her introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Natasha Romanoff is finally getting back to her roots. Despite being an integral part of the MCU, Natasha has long remained the Avenger most shrouded in secrecy. But as the first teaser indicated, Black Widow is finally pulling back the curtain on the enigmatic, complicated hero.
Set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War—a time in which much of Team Cap is either on the run or on house arrest—Black Widow reveals exactly what Natasha was up to while in hiding. And it seems she was reuniting with some familiar faces and contending with her oft-referenced assassin past. While Avengers: Age of Ultron gave MCU fans the most direct look—albeit a brief one—into the Black Widow program, Black Widow is finally revealing what went down in the Red Room that taught Natasha how to be a killer.
A new special look at the Scarlett Johansson-led film dives even deeper into Natasha’s mindset following the Avengers’ split, as she reveals to her “sister” and fellow Black Widow, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), why she’s in hiding. “I’m on the run. I was trying to do something good. Be more than just a trained killer,” Nat tells Yelena, who scoffs at her remark and issues a very stark reminder: “You’re fooling yourself. We are still both trained killers.”
However, Nat is not just back to play catch up with Yelena and the rest of her estranged “family”—Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Melina Vostokoff a.k.a Iron Maiden (Rachel Weisz)—teased in the first trailer. She’s finally ready to confront her past and it appears she’s looking to her “family” for assistance. The new look at the film teases Nat and co. facing off against a new league of Widows and an ominous masked figure known as Taskmasker.
On the heels of the special look at the film, Marvel Studios also released a behind the scenes featurette looking back at the beloved Marvel character. In the clip, Johansson, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige, and Black Widow director Cate Shortland reflect on the character’s decade-long MCU arc and why now is the right time for a Black Widow movie.
The clip opens with an interview with Johansson from 2009, ahead of her MCU debut in Iron Man 2, expressing her excitement at the host of possibilities in store for her character. In a new interview with Johansson, a decade later, the actress looks back at the journey she’s taken with Natasha, relishing in the opportunity to finally dive deep into the “inner-workings” of the character.
Meanwhile, Shortland expressed her excitement at seeing the “real” Natasha. “She’s not a classic hero because she has a dark past. You get to see all these facets of her that we’ve never ever seen before,” the director teased.
Black Widow also stars O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) as SHIELD agent Rick Mason. MCU alum William Hurt reprises his role as Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross.
Black Widow is in theaters on May 1.
Featured Image: Marvel Studios
