He’s one of the most formidable members of the Avengers around, able to adapt to any situation. It is at the crossroads of 20th century spy films and a medley of modern action films. Still dressed in her battle suit, she is also the second heroine of a Marvel movie. Instead of leading to a whole new narrative arc, it feels like it’s a big goodbye that the studio is sending to its heroine.

A long gestation
Black Widow hasn’t been the best-treated character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It had started rather well, when Scarlett Johansson had played for the first time the heroine created by the studio, passed from the camp of the Soviet spies to that of the New York superheroes that are the Avengers.

She had even held the face-to-face with the Hulk. She will self-qualify as a monster under the leadership of Joss Whedon before dying in Avengers Endgame, sacrificing herself because “her life is worth less than that of Hawkeye who has children”. On screen, only Tony Stark was entitled to a funeral worth the trip. In fact, Black Widow has been the least consistent member of the Avengers. The heroine has always been written in a different way from film to film, with Scarlett Johansson as the only guarantee of a certain consistency. Popular despite the decline in the production of derivative products (a phenomenon that does not affect the other characters), his solo film is only released now, after a very long gestation. We must believe that it was more complicated to make a film about her than soon three Ant-Man.

The story of the Black Widow movie takes place right after the events of Captain America: Civil War. The latter’s team, considered to be made up of criminals and renegades, is being chased by the US military. Natasha Romanoff, alias Black Widow, or Black Widow for those who appreciate the French version, continues a run which leads her to a mobile home in Norway where she kills time by watching James Bond period Roger Moore.

Only then, she lets herself embark on another adventure. Yelena, the one she once considered her sister when she was just a spy apprentice, resurfaces. She aims to dismantle the Red Chamber, a place where all Black Widows are formed. For Natasha, it is also about finding the people she considered to be members of her family, the time of an infiltration on American soil when she was only a child.