Scarlett Johansson returns as Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour is cast as Alexei a.k.a. The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz plays Melina, who is believed to be the alter ego of villain Iron Maiden.
- Jul 22, 2019
AceShowbiz - "Black Widow", Marvel's first Phase 4 film, which has been filmed in secrecy for about a month now, has finally been confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con. During the Marvel panel on Saturday, July 20, the cast was brought out on stage to announce details of the movie, including its release date.
The Black Widow solo movie is scheduled to arrive on May 1, 2020. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. the title character. Florence Pugh is confirmed to portray Yelena, who is also trained in the Red Room like Natasha, and would later claim the identity of Black Widow.
David Harbour stars as Alexei a.k.a. The Red Guardian, O-T Fagbenle joins the cast as Mason and Rachel Weisz is tapped to play Melina. While her character is only referred to as Melina, it is believed that she is Melina Vostokoff a.k.a. the armor-clad villain known as Iron Maiden.
In the comics, Melina was a Russian intelligence agent who was constantly overshadowed by the Black Widow. After growing frustrated and resentful of Widow, Vostokoff left the Russian intelligence and began working as a freelance agent and assassin. She was later hired by someone else holding a grudge to assassinate the Black Widow.
First footage for the movie debuted during the panel, as Weisz teased about her character, "I can't really tell you very much -- it's all very secret -- but Melina, my character, she's been cycled through the Red Room, the Black Widow training project, the same place that (Natasha) was, trained five times since I was a child. And I'm also very involved in some scientific research -- that's all I can say."
Another villain was later confirmed as Andy Park, Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios, revealed a concept art he created for the upcoming film. The brand new keyframe illustration shows Black Widow fighting against Taskmaster, who was previously spotted on the set.
In the comics, Taskmaster a.k.a. Tony Masters is a mercenary who injected himself with an experimental serum that gave him the power of "photographic reflexes." There's still no word on who plays the character.
"Black Widow", which is rumored to be set shortly after the events in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War", will reveal the title character's backstory. Johansson said that she herself was surprised by the revelations about her character.
"I think you'll learn about what Natasha is afraid of, and I think you'll learn about what parts of herself she's afraid of," she gushed. "You really see her in, like, a pretty broken-down place, and she kinda has to build herself back up and pull all the pieces together in this film. It gets kind of gnarly, but good gnarly."
Cate Shortland serves as director, with the script provided by Jac Schaeffer.
