Black Widow star Florence Pugh previews the heartbreaking Red Room storyline that lies ahead in the MCU film. Though Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) has been a part of the MCU since almost the very beginning of the series, her first solo movie comes as the 24th film in the entire franchise. Black Widow was slated to arrive last year as the first movie in the MCU's Phase 4, but the coronavirus pandemic delayed it multiple times. At long last, the Cate Shortland-directed project will premiere in theaters and on Disney+ (via Premier Access) in just a few weeks.
Set in between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Black Widow will find Natasha at a crossroads in the aftermath of the Avengers' fight over the Sokovia Accords. Natasha soon is forced on a trip down memory lane as she revisits her past as an assassin trained by the mysterious Red Room. In an effort to take down the Red Room once and for all, Nat joins forces with her onetime spy family, comprised of Yelena Belova (Pugh), Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), and Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour).
Back when Black Widow was in production, Screen Rant visited the set. During an interview with Pugh, the Oscar-nominated actress previewed the devastating story at the center of the Marvel movie. It's all tied to the Red Room, and when Pugh was asked about how Yelena feels about the organization, she had this to say:
Good question. I think that’s one of the heartbreaks about this film is that it is essentially about women that have been abused. Whether it’s about a system or whether it’s about physical abuse, they’ve all been, in some way, trapped and I think this film is the realization of the life that was taken from them and that’s how Natasha and Yelena start repairing, I suppose. So I don’t think she’s too happy about it. Then again, it’s the only thing she’s known, so I don’t know.
The MCU has tapped into stories of female abuse before with the Netflix series Jessica Jones, but this is arguably the first time the movie side of the franchise has done so. Natasha previously touched upon what happened to her in the Red Room in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but those scenes never dug deep into her lingering trauma. Therefore, Black Widow presents an opportunity to shine a light on what Natasha, Yelena, and the other Red Room assassins have gone through. Based on Pugh's comments, it's going to be an emotional ride.
Though Black Widow is a superhero movie at its core, it also promises to be a compelling character-driven spy thriller. Even despite all the recent strides in representation, the comic book genre remains very male-oriented. Black Widow's story can stand out and even add new layers to the MCU with its grounded, emotional focus on the trauma women experience. After all this time, the Red Room is moving out of the shadows, and it's going to bring a lot of heartbreak with it.
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June 16, 2021 at 12:12AM
