Everything you need to know before watching Black Widow

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Black Widow has been a long time coming. Not only has it been two years since the last MCU film came out but this one has been delayed multiple times. Though finally the wait is over, as Black Widow is coming to cinemas and Disney Plus on July 9 2021.

We’re here to run you through everything you’ll need to know from the previous Marvel films and the trailers so that you’ll be able to watch Black Widow as soon as it comes out and avoid any spoilers.

This video will contain spoilers for the MCU up until the Avengers: Endgame.

Black Widow will star Scarlett Johansson as the titular character in her first ever solo outing. We first met Natasha Romanoff, AKA the Black Widow, back in Iron Man 2 (a film released all the way back in 2010).

She was sent by SHIELD to spy on Tony Stark to decide if he was a suitable candidate for the Avengers Initiative, and wowed the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist with her unique fighting skills.


What makes Natasha special in the MCU is that her abilities aren’t enhanced in any way as far as we know. She isn’t a super soldier or a cyborg. She’s got no super powers, but is still willing to go up against major threats like Loki, Ultron and Thanos..

Though we know what you’re all now asking, if she has no powers how is Black Widow alive? During Avengers: Endgame we saw her dramatically sacrifice herself to earn the Soul Stone and she couldn’t be brought back by the Hulk when he used the Infinity Gauntlet to return those killed by Thanos.

Unfortunately nothing’s changed on that front and Natasha isn’t coming back from the dead for now. That’s because the upcoming Black Widow film is a prequel set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.

Natasha is on the run, having helped Captain America and the Winter Soldier escape custody. She can’t just lay low however, as her past as a Soviet assassin is finally catching up with her.

In Avengers: Age of Ultron it was revealed that Black Widow was trained by the Red Room, a secret Soviet program designed to create elite assassins, though their methods are cruel and involve deep psychological manipulation. Eventually Natasha was able to escape their control and defected, she started to work with groups like SHIELD rather than against them.

In her upcoming film it looks like Black Widow and several other survivors of the program will be returning to bring it down for good. Though it won’t be easy as the Red Room is now run by the villain Taskmaster.

Taskmaster is an expert fighter who’s able to analyse and exactly mimic their enemies in real time. From the trailers so far we’ve seen them use Captain America’s shield skills, Black Panther’s claws and Hawkeye’s archery - we even see them mirror Black Widow move for move.


They go beyond being just a copycat though, and use the same analysis to perfectly counter whatever someone might think to throw at them.

Thankfully, Black Widow won’t be fighting Taskmaster alone. She’ll be joined by other ex-trainees of the Red Room, Melina Vostokova played by Rachel Weisz and Yelena Belova played by Florence Pugh as well as the Red Guardian, a Soviet super-soldier played by Stranger Things’ David Harbour.

While we know for certain that Natasha survives this adventure, we don’t yet know the fate of her friends, and we’re sure Marvel will find plenty of ways to keep us on the edge of our seats throughout the upcoming prequel film.

With that all covered, you should now be caught up to speed on everything you need to know about Black Widow before it releases.

If you can’t wait to see the film, you might want to check out every MCU film Natsha has appeared in so far and those are: Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Black Widow releases on July 9 and will be watchable in cinemas where Covid-19 restrictions allow and on Disney Plus for Premiere Access (which costs $29.99 / £19.99 on top of your regular subscription).

If you’ve enjoyed this video, be sure to like it, share it with all your friends and let us know in the comments which Marvel hero you want to see get their own solo film next.


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