“Black Widow” celebrates its free TV premiere
The greatest Marvel heroine is leaving the MCU
© Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Scarlett Johansson shaped the Marvel universe like no other actress. “Black Widow” can now be seen on free TV for the first time.
Superstar Scarlett Johansson, 38, made her debut in the big Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010’s “Iron Man 2.” The charismatic actress quickly became an indispensable member of the superhero group Avengers. But despite these successes, Johansson had to wait a long time to finally get her own solo film as a Marvel heroine.
In the summer of 2021 – after a few postponements due to the corona pandemic – the time had come: “Black Widow” appeared in cinemas and, for an extra fee, on the Disney+ streaming service. The work will celebrate its premiere on German free TV on September 17th (8:15 p.m., ProSieben).
A fitting farewell for Scarlett Johansson
Marvel fans will know that the character Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow will die in the superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” (2019). However, Scarlett Johansson’s solo film “Black Widow” takes place before these events. The prequel film is set in the Marvel chronology between “The First Avenger: Civil War” (2016) and “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018).
“Black Widow” finally reveals some secrets about Natasha Romanoff and her past as a KGB assassin – and can definitely keep up with the solo films of her Avengers colleagues. In the form of flashbacks, the work of director Cate Shortland (“SMILF”, “Berlin Syndrome”, 55) repeatedly offers insights into the heroine’s childhood and youth. At the beginning of the film, Romanoff lives with her more than unusual “foster family” consisting of super soldier Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour, 48), the older Black Widow Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz, 53) and her “sister” Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh, 27) undercover in rural Ohio.
But right at the beginning of the film something goes wrong and the small patchwork family of Russian agents has to flee in a brilliantly staged chase. Afterwards, the now adult Natasha Romanoff is hunted by a US special operations team as a result of the events from “Civil War” and initially goes into hiding in Norway.
Suddenly she has to face the dark sides of her former life when a dangerous conspiracy opens up with connections to her past and the so-called “Red Room”. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, the courageous fighter meets her old acquaintance Yelena Belova and must confront her history as a KGB spy and the broken relationships she left behind – long before she became an Avenger.
Concentrated female power and a worn-out “KGB cap”
At the heart of the Marvel film are Avengers veteran Johansson and British actress Florence Pugh, who played a major action role for the first time in “Black Widow.” Alongside her colleague Johansson, who is eleven years older than her, Pugh, who was already nominated for an Oscar in 2020 despite her young age, delivers an absolutely equal performance – and also impresses with a good portion of coolness and wit.
Yelena Belova and main character Natasha Romanoff not only have a hard-hitting duel when they meet again, but also verbally duel again and again – for example when Yelena rolls her eyes and calls her older colleague a “poser” just for her sake to then demonstrate the supposedly stereotypical superhero landing. The interaction between Johansson and Pugh and the sister-like dynamic between their characters is what carries the Marvel film.
But “Stranger Things” star David Harbor also knows how to impress as the Soviet superhero “Red Guardian”. Harbor is said to have gained a lot of weight for his role in order to embody the humorous sidekick in “Black Widow”, who barely fits into his old superhero suit, and claims to have had a fight with Captain America in the 1980s even though he spent this time deep under the Arctic ice.
Only the film’s antagonists around villain Dreykov (Ray Winstone, 66) and the dangerous fighter Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko, 43) are a little lost in the playful ensemble of the Marvel film – an unfortunately all too familiar, well-known Marvel problem.
Is “Black Widow” worth it?
“Black Widow” offers the typical Marvel mix of a quickly told plot, a good dose of humor, impressive action sequences and several changes of location. In addition to the USA and Norway, the superhero film takes viewers to Morocco and Hungary, among other places.
Scarlett Johansson, who has always somehow stood out among the Avengers, delivers her usual confident performance. In her eighth and final Marvel appearance, she finally receives an independent blockbuster after a long delay – and thus the appreciation in the Marvel universe that she deserves. A more than worthy farewell to the big stage of the MCU.