Hollywood's getting better when it comes to the whole women-in-action-movies thing. But 2012 though, was long ago to be the dark ages…because Black Widow is a bit of a cypher. We still don't have a stand alone Black Widow movie.
We meet Black Widow briefly in Iron Man 2, but beyond the fact that she can break men in half between her mighty thighs and can be a super-awesome secret agent when she wants to be, we don't have a lot of Black Widow backstory. We only get really meaty character development of her's in Capitan America : The Winter Soldier. Here, she's doing the job as a SHIELD undercover operative, called in for her finesse in dealing with superheroic types. Right off the bat, we know that she's loyal. SHIELD is everything for her, and though she covers it up in plenty of cynical snark, she'll cheerfully go to her death for the sake of the organization and its mission.
That just leaves the 'why?',as in, "Why would she be so freaking loyal?" Well, we don't know much about her background, but we do know her loyalty is a fairly recent development.
Or, as she puts it to Loki while she's interrogating him. "Before I worked for SHIELD, I… well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for. Or on."
That's no mistake. The character actually started out as a villain in the Marvel Comics and became a heroine only after a serious change of heart. The Avengers shows us just enough of that to know that it's true.
It's especially interesting because she's supposed to be an ace undercover agent, able to assume any identity she wants. She's super-skilled at presenting the face she wants to.
We're not sure how much of it is true…in fact, she might not even be sure anymore.
Nevertheless, she goes out and does the job, because she believes that it ultimately does right, for the world, and for her. She tells Hawkeye that as he struggles to recover from her past. I've been compromised. I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out.
She's more compromised than the others, but she also knows what evil can do. She's learned the tricks of the villain trade, but now she's decided to use her knowledge of the Big Bad to fight for the Big Good.
Infinity War though was a huge wastage from the character point of view of Black Widow. The only change that we see in her is her hair. If you have read the Infinity War prelude comic, then you'll know that Nat along with Steve had been hunting down small terrorist organizations. But they are still haven't given her any character defining moment. All we know that she is still, though being hunted down by Ross, is working for the good of the people.
In the movie, we watch all the characters loose at least one person who is important to them, except Natasha. We don't even know who is the person who is important to her. Bruce? He survives. Clint? We don't know yet, but I got a feeling (and of course there are Avengers 4 set pictures) that he survived. Nick? Well he did ash away! Maybe he is a dad-kind-of figure to her! Getting back to the point, we really didn't get any Black Widow character development in Infinity War.
So here's Chapter 6 : Natasha Romanoff. She one of the original six and the first female superhero. I believe her character deserves more. Can't wait for the black widow movie to come out!
What are your thoughts on Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff? Tell me in your comments!
I'm going to do Bruce Banner next.
ImaginationsUnleashed
