In the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow was one of the only female characters to be featured in the franchise, especially in big-name movies like The Avengers. Having made her first Marvel appearance in 2010 during Iron Man 2, it took just over 11 years before Natasha Romanoff was finally given her own movie.
As one of the original Avengers not to have their own solo project, MCU fans were excited to see their favorite spy-turned-hero get her own film, especially since they thought they’d seen the last of her in Avengers: Endgame. Although a bit of an unusual decision to release Black Widow after the titular character was killed off in a previous film, viewers still had high hopes that the movie would be an excellent way to say goodby to one of the last remaining Phase 1 heroes.
Unfortunately, Black Widow fell short in more ways than one and didn’t give Natasha Romanoff the send-off she deserved. After over-sexualizing her character in the early phases, neglecting to give her a funeral like Tony had in Avengers: Endgame, and a pretty average solo project, it’s clear that the MCU has fumbled Natasha's storyline more than once.
That’s not to say Black Widow was a bad movie. It scored a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and has a 6.7/10 on IMDb, which is decent as far as movie ratings go in general. But when comparing it to the likes of other MCU solo projects, like Black Panther or Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Black Widow was incredibly average.
The film started off strong by establishing its place in the MCU timeline immediately after the events of Captain America: Civil War and flashing back to Natasha’s childhood. Shortly after came the intense opening credit sequence, which was truthfully the most moving part of the entire movie.
Black Widow created a dark, ominous vibe by depicting the horrific human trafficking events of the future Red Room Widows, set to Malia J’s haunting cover of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But that chilling tone ceased to exist beyond the three-minute sequence and the movie quickly dissolved into a more traditional Marvel storyline. After taking the time to create such an impactful introduction, the rest of the film simply failed to live up to the high expectations set by the opening credits.
In a lot of ways, Black Widow seems like it was created just to set up Yelena Belova as the new Black Widow. Since Natasha was dead by the time Marvel got around to giving her a solo project, there was already a need to fill the spot Scarlett Johansson left behind when Black Widow came out. Yelena was clearly the best choice to take up the mantle, but it happened pretty quickly.
Yelena was featured in the Hawkeye series just a few months after Black Widow and will be playing a pretty big role in the upcoming Thunderbolts film. Obviously, Yelena will be important to the franchise moving forward, which isn’t a bad thing, since she’s certainly a great new addition to the franchise. Finding a way to bring Florence Pugh into the MCU was also a major plus, but the timing of the transition feels a little off.
Instead of waiting to make a Black Widow movie until after Natasha was dead, the MCU should’ve found time earlier in Phases 1-3 so that they could focus strictly on Natasha’s journey. Sure, Yelena would’ve likely still been a major part of that, but creating Black Widow so late in the game makes the film feel like a stepping stone, rather than a tribute to the first female superhero in the MCU.
What’s even more frustrating is that Tony Stark and Steve Rogers both had movie trilogies dedicated solely to their individual storylines. Thor has had four different solo films, and the end of Love and Thunder hints at the possibility of there being a fifth on the way.
Clint Barton had his own Hawkeye show, which was good enough to warrant a 92% Rotten Tomatoes rating and Bruce Banner was written into multiple projects, like Thor: Ragnarok and She-Hulk. Additionally, rumors of a World War Hulk film being developed are currently circulating the internet, meaning Bruce Banner has plenty more screen time to come.
All that goes to show Natasha Romanoff’s character hasn’t been given the same level of care and attention as the rest of the heroes that starred in The Avengers. With so much potential backstory to explore, it’s truly a shame that Marvel has managed to mess up so many opportunities to tap into that, especially during the Black Widow movie.
As it stands, Marvel’s best Black Widow accomplishment was editing such an intense opening credit sequence.