Black Widow trailer

Vertighost

Probably unnecessary to mention on this site but the Widow trailer is out:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QALEbLqTW_M

Matt

Firstly, up until Endgame, I found her to be the second most interesting MCU character (she lowered to the third spot in that movie). I’ve been reading & hearing people state she’s gotten shortchanged (I’d argue that was Hawkeye), but I think if you look at her roles in all of her MCU appearances, you can see her importance; especially Civil War. I’ve been waiting for this movie for years.

Having said that, this teaser trailer didn’t really excite me that much. I’d put it just above my excitement level for the Captain Marvel & Spider-man: FFH trailers. There was some great stuff (the opening fight) & some less great stuff (“it still fits”). So far, it looks to be a Jason Bourne/Salt sequel. I’m hoping there’s more once the trailers get released.

nweathington

The bits of fighting in the trailer didn’t look half as good as the fight scenes in Atomic Blonde. Small sample size, I know, but I have a feeling my head canon may just treat Atomic Blonde as the “real” Black Widow movie.

Brack

Not a fan of the dirt bike Taskmaster look.

The ageing, out of shape Red Guardian feels like a Garth Ennis move.

Matt

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/115779#Comment_115779

I watched Red Sparrow and thought that was basically the Natasha Romanov origin movie. And this felt like the sequel set up at the end of Salt.

You could put Atomic Blonde as movie 3 and basically have a Black Widow trilogy. I think the fact nothing really seems original (granted it’s a teaser, not a trailer) is going to hurt the movie. Strip away “Marvel Studios” and I think this movie would look like 2020’s Charlie’s Angels at the box office.

Brack

Matt said:

Strip away “Marvel Studios” and I think this movie would look like 2020’s Charlie’s Angels at the box office.

Given that Lucy took $463.4 million, they are probably 5 years too late to get the maximum box office from a Black Widow movie. But Ghost in the Shell still took $160 million, so even without Marvel it'd probably do better than Charlie's Angels.

nweathington

Brack said:

The ageing, out of shape Red Guardian feels like a Garth Ennis move.

They had a really hard time finding a clip for the trailer where he wasn’t saying “fuck”. :smiley:

nweathington

Matt said:

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/115779#Comment_115779

I watched Red Sparrow and thought that was basically the Natasha Romanov origin movie. And this felt like the sequel set up at the end of Salt.

You could put Atomic Blonde as movie 3 and basically have a Black Widow trilogy. I think the fact nothing really seems original (granted it’s a teaser, not a trailer) is going to hurt the movie. Strip away “Marvel Studios” and I think this movie would look like 2020’s Charlie’s Angels at the box office.

In general, originality isn’t a quality that tends to make much of a difference at the box office. Not when it comes to blockbuster popcorn flicks anyway. I think Black Widow will do fine—probably a slightly above average performer for Marvel, which would put it well ahead of Salt ($294 million gross worldwide) and the rest.

David_D

That teaser is not great (other than the music). I agree it does feel like they came to this later than they should have, as I think a prequel of this, now finished-feeling character is likely less interesting than it would have been before, and I do get the sense that some of her star power as a lead has dimmed. Maybe this would have been a better Disney+ miniseries (a la the upcoming Obi Wan mini).

I also think, post-Endgame, that it would have been better for something that felt more NEXT to be next, you know what I mean? Something that gives us a taste of where the MCU goes after those events, rather than flashing back. And unlucky timing to drop this trailer the same week as a much slicker and more exciting looking spy movie.

Though it seems out of tone with the rest of the movie, David Harbour as Red Guardian is actually the only thing I think that trailer made me interested in (though likely not enough to get me to the theater). But I have been a fan of his for a long time, going back to his stage work. He at least looks like he's having fun.

Matt

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/115785#Comment_115785

Potentially NEXT is next. If my theory that this is a retrospective movie more then a prequel or a return, and Natasha remains dead, it’d be the first bit to show the universe moving on from the deaths of Endgame. By replacing Nat with Yelena, the first replacement original Avenger would occur, followed by Sam as Cap at the end of the Disney+ series next fall, then Hawkeye & Thor in 2021. NEXT next could be moving forward with “second generation” MCU characters being elevated while the initial generation characters are being replaced.

David_D

Matt said:

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/115785#Comment_115785

Potentially NEXT is next. If my theory that this is a retrospective movie more then a prequel or a return, and Natasha remains dead, it’d be the first bit to show the universe moving on from the deaths of Endgame. By replacing Nat with Yelena, the first replacement original Avenger would occur, followed by Sam as Cap at the end of the Disney+ series next fall, then Hawkeye & Thor in 2021. NEXT next could be moving forward with “second generation” MCU characters being elevated while the initial generation characters are being replaced.

That's a good point- to judge by that teaser, they are definitely giving a lot of promo to her sister, so it could be they are positioning her to take that mantle, in the same way those other hand-offs are happening.

nweathington

David_D said:

Matt said:

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/115785#Comment_115785

Potentially NEXT is next. If my theory that this is a retrospective movie more then a prequel or a return, and Natasha remains dead, it’d be the first bit to show the universe moving on from the deaths of Endgame. By replacing Nat with Yelena, the first replacement original Avenger would occur, followed by Sam as Cap at the end of the Disney+ series next fall, then Hawkeye & Thor in 2021. NEXT next could be moving forward with “second generation” MCU characters being elevated while the initial generation characters are being replaced.

That's a good point- to judge by that teaser, they are definitely giving a lot of promo to her sister, so it could be they are positioning her to take that mantle, in the same way those other hand-offs are happening.

I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. That was my assumption as soon as I heard Yelena was in the movie.

Brack

Thinking about it more the Taskmaster design & comically overweight Red Guardian are probably symptoms of the same problem - being ashamed of being based on comic books.

You've got the character with most comic book look (swashbuckling skeleton) turned into a guy doing paintball, and the one character dressed as an actual superhero is there to poke fun at the idea of dressing up like a superhero.

Vertighost

Agreed with everyone that this trailer doesn’t look that great, but I’m hoping that the script makes up for whatever the film may be lacking in the fight choreography. I’ve never seen Sparrow but only heard it was mediocre or a snooze and IMO the only thing Blonde had going for it was admittedly stellar fight choreography.

If this film can have at least a couple of action sequences that measure up to Widow’s alien “bike ride” in Avengers or her foot-chase/fight scenes through the village at the beginning of Civil War, plus an entertaining and compelling script, I will be more than happy. From what I see it seems like they are incorporating Grayson/Rucka’s early 2000s? work with Waid’s recent mini-series which are excellent story sources IMO. Although I’m not sure I need Guardian tagging along since I don’t recall him playing any role in those stories but he seems to be very popular with other fans who I assume like the nod to earlier comic continuity.

Matt

https://thecomicforums.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/115800#Comment_115800

I watched the trailer again thinking about your “alien bike ride” comment. Right before we see a black & red animated Widow walking toward us then the title card, we see Nat jump and “fly” through fallen debris. I have to say, one think I really like about the character is, despite her lack of enhanced powers or metal suit, she rarely seemed reluctant to jump into a dangerous situation.

Vertighost

Yeah that’s a big reason why she’s probably my favorite character in the films. I’ve always liked non-superpowered characters who are able to hold their own on super-powered teams. One of my fave comic book scenes of all time was when Robin (temporarily) saved the other Titans from a creature when Brother Blood captured them.