In “Black Widow”, broadcast this evening on TF1, you will be able to find many small hidden details. Back to one of them, hidden on the tattoos of the character played by David Harbour.
A Howard the Duck cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy, a furtive appearance by Elon Musk in Iron Man 2, the precise coordinates of Wakanda indicated on a map at the start of Black Panther or a small reference to the Matrix in Ant-Man and the Wasp…
Since the very first feature film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, released in 2008, Maison des Idées productions have been veritable gold mines for easter egg lovers. Black Widow, worn by Scarlett Johansson, is no exception, and is also full of many small hidden details.
As Cate Shortland’s feature film airs tonight on TF1, let’s take a look at one of those little winks, which you may not have noticed if you watched the film at normal speed or if you didn’t know exactly where to look.
In the middle of Black Widow, when we hadn’t seen him since the start of the film, we find the character of Alexei Shostakov, played by David Harbour.
This Russian super-soldier, who infiltrated the United States in the 90s alongside the spy Melina Vostokoff (both posing as the parents of Natasha Romanoff, the future Black Widow, and her sister Yelena), had ended by being imprisoned in his country of origin.
After several years of incarceration, while his two “daughters” are preparing to release him, we can thus find him having his back tattooed while he disputes a particularly muscular showdown with one of his fellow prisoners. It is at this moment of the film that you will have to observe carefully.
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Press “pause” for the first time at 53 minutes and 33 seconds and take a good look at the character’s left shoulder (on the right of the screen, therefore): you can see a woman’s face tattooed there, accompanied by the name Melina written in Russian. This is the fictional former wife of Alexei, played by Rachel Weisz in the film.
A few moments later, at exactly 53 minutes and 47 seconds, freeze the image again, and now observe the character’s right arm (on the left of the screen): you can read the first names of Natasha and Yelena there, her cover girls, accompanied by two roses.
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These tattoos dedicated to Alexei’s former family, and which are suspected to have been made after his arrival in prison, would they be proof that the character really cared about his wife and his two surrogate daughters, even if they weren’t a real family? We can assume so.
Note also that on Alexei’s knuckles are inscribed the words “KARL” and “MARX”, in reference to the famous communist theorist.
(Re)discover the hidden details of “Black Widow”…