10 Mistakes Marvel Need To Avoid With Black Widow
It's been a long wait... don't mess it up!
The comic book movie-loving Internet has been all a-buzz recently about the long-rumored yet unannounced solo outing for Marvel's Black Widow. The fire of speculation has been stoked first by fans, then by Kevin Feige's semi-confirmation that it's on the way, and then by ScarJo's enthusiasm in recent interviews.
While Marvelites may well have spectacularly jumped the gun (there's no definitive proof it's gone beyond the consideration stages), it once again highlights how much eagerness exists to see Natasha Romanoff headline her own adventure. For Marvel, they should do it just to get the monkey off their back.
Despite being a second-tier Avenger in many eyes, there are a lot of possibilities with a Black Widow solo movie. She is such a complex character with so much rich history and her own adventure would give Marvel the opportunity to change things up a little. However, if the project is mishandled, the results could be a total disaster and make fans wish she stuck to the team-up movies.
With all the excitement, it's a perfect time to look at the big mistakes Marvel must avoid in order to make a great Black Widow film.
9. The Origin Story
The Mistake: Marvel has struggled with how to handle their origin stories in the past. While they wisely avoided retreading familiar grounds with heroes like Hulk and Spider-Man, with lesser known characters, they've felt the need to go the obvious route. Certain heroes like Doctor Strange certainly benefit from this approach, but giving us Black Widow: The Early Years would be a waste of a solo film.
That's not to say that Widow doesn't have an interesting origin; she has perhaps the darkest past of any Marvel hero with plenty of rich material to delve into. The problem is that we've been fed so much of her backstory over the course of her film appearances that giving a more in-depth telling of it would ultimately be redundant.
The Solution: There are still plenty of secrets about Natasha's past, but the best way to explore it would be with a new story. With The Avengers disbanded, have Natasha go rogue and return to her homeland of Russia on a personal mission to unpick more of the Winter Soldier story (since it's so close to her own).
There we could learn more about the Black Widow Program and the friends and enemies she left behind.