Black Widow

The perennially delayed Black Widow has finally arrived.

Set in between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity Wars this entry into the MCU is a semi-standalone prequel which dives deeper into the murky past of the titular character.

Ever since Avengers: Endgame, and especially with the Disney+ offerings, MCU has embraced the use of different genres in order to best suit the story being told. This line of creativity is once again on display in Black Widow with Marvel employing a spy espionage thriller style akin to James Bond/Jason Bourne to dig into the past of trained assassin Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) & her 'family'.

As the film progresses the viewer is introduced to Natasha's estranged sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) - a welcomed addition to the cast as she provides much needed levity & comic relief to the film. Once joking forces the sisters set out to destroy the "Red Room", a secretive Russian organisation which created them through its 'training' program designed to establish a global network of assassins called Black Widows – young women kidnapped as children and put into training as super-soldier killers.

Much like a typical MCU outing Black Widow is brimming with action set pieces, although the CGI efforts here are glaringly obvious at points. However the film does also offer a new element to the series with this film being less of a lore building block and more of an ode to sisterhood, the chaos of atypical families & a tale of female revenge. Due to this Black Widow is the most overtly feminist of the Marvel films yet.

Overall this is a fitting entry into the MCU canon which provide such needed background & depth to Natasha Romanoff. Also be sure to stick around for the post-credit scene which appears to be teasing the next entry into the MCU Disney+ offerings.

★★★

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