Natasha steps off a train, entering the city herd. William Hurt‘s General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross explains her flight, “I heard you had to leave in a hurry.” Is he her pursuer, or her watch commander? Tracking the timeline of events of this film is tricky. We’ve heard rumors that Black Widow takes place sometime after the events of Captain America: Civil War.
But then we see a radically de-aged William Hurt, pinning the events of this film even earlier than The Incredible Hulk of 2008. As we move forward through the trailer, we get the impression that Black Widow might jump around several years. The general asks, “So, what are you going to do?”
Whatever the inciting incident of the film, Natasha is done running from her past. She must return “home” if she’s to ever properly evolve into her Avenger persona and meet her end on her own terms. Sad. She flips through her varied identities, finding the right one to sneak her way back into the grips of the Red Room.
Natasha enters a palatial apartment, gun drawn. “I know you’re out there,” says an unseen Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh). Who doesn’t belong in this scenario? Has Yelena intruded upon Natasha, or is Natasha intruding on Yelena? How long has it been since they last saw each other? What is Yelena’s current relationship with the Red Room?
The two agents put each other in their sights. “Are we going to talk like grownups?” asks Natasha. In the comics, Yelena Belova replaced Natasha Romanoff as the Black Widow for a time when Natasha was thought dead. The going theory is that this film will establish Pugh as Johansson’s replacement on the Avengers. That’s a lot of pressure on Pugh, but considering how we’ve already fallen for the actress thanks to movies like Midsommar and Lady Macbeth, we’re ready for a new deadly assassin.
In the realm of the MCU, all disputes, whether friendly or otherwise, are resolved through combat.
Related Topics: Black Widow, Cate Shortland, Marvel, Scarlett Johansson, Shot by Shot, Trailers
