The first movie from Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be Black Widow. The first trailer hit today and showed a whole slew of characters that will appear in the movie.
Here is a look at all the characters and who they are in the comic books.
Black Widow
The thing about this movie is that it is a prequel that takes place before Black Widow dies in Avengers: Endgame. It also introduces the idea that there are several different Black Widows in existence.
The one we all know is Natasha Romanova, the Black Widow who was part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers. As the trailer shows, Black Widow returns home to Russia to deal with something big.
That includes returning to the “family” she built within the Red Room, where Russia trained their assassins in the Black Widow program.
Yelena Belova
The first person Natasha meets when she returns home is Yelena (Florence Pugh), who she has a huge fight against. She then calls her “sis” and the two seem to be on the same side.
In the Black Widow movie, it is clear they are going into battle together.
In Marvel Comics, Yelena was introduced in 1999 as part of the Red Room program. She was a former rival and enemy of Natasha but later became her ally.
In the comics, Natasha also died and when that happened, Yelena took on the moniker of Black Widow and replaced her, fighting in her honor.
Could Florence Pugh replace Scarlet Johannson in the future MCU movies? It is always a possibility she could be part of the new-look Avengers in Phase 5.
Melina Vostokoff
Also appearing in the trailer was another member of the Black Widow training protocol in Melina (Rachel Weisz). With an actress as big as Weitz, expect big things.
This is especially if the character’s Marvel Comics story plays out.
Melina is Iron Maiden (introduced in 1983) and is a mercenary who lived in the shadows of Natasha and grew to hate her for it. This led to her taking on the Iron Maiden role as a villain.
The Red Guardian
David Harbour portrays the Red Guardian, Russia’s version of Captain America. Learn all about Red Guardian in Black Widow here.
Taskmaster
While he was only shown in one short clip, Taskmaster is one of the main villains in Black Widow.
#BlackWidow is going to need the whole family to take on Taskmaster ? pic.twitter.com/uakjabyHXA
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) December 3, 2019
He is Tony Masters, a villain with no superpowers but an eidetic memory where he can watch any person fight and immediately master and duplicate their fighting form. He is also able to correctly recognize oncoming attacks from someone he has battled before.
In the trailer, he has a bow and arrow (which he learned from fighting Hawkeye) but also has a shield (Captain America) and a sword (Black Knight).
He is not a big-time villain but is one of the most iconic Marvel villains for long-time fans of the comics.
While the identity of Taskmaster has not been determined, Ray Winstone has been cast in the movie and is a good bet for the role.
A de-aged William Hurt will also appear in Black Widow as Thunderbolt Ross and Robert Downey Jr. is rumored to have a cameo as Tony Stark.
#BlackWidow will be the fifth MCU movie appearance by actor William Hurt portraying Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross! pic.twitter.com/52FkuzSPDB
— MCU Direct (@MCU_Direct) December 3, 2019
Black Widow hits theaters on May 1, 2020.