Epic production design and loveable characters set Black Widow up as the empirical standard of Phase IV of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU).
With Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as spy-extraordinaire Natasha Romanoff in this retrospective flick, Romanoff reunites with her dysfunctional family of Russian super-spies to make good of her actions long before she became the infamous Avenger, Black Widow.
A Black Widow origin story was long-awaited by fans. It is the first MCU movie released since Spiderman: Far From Home (2019), as well as the first film post-the-reinvention-of-Romanoff in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
This is credited to directing duo the Russo Brothers (Captain America: Civil War, Cherry) who martyred the only female Avenger, cementing her perfect redemption arc as one of the saddest moments in MCU history.
It was almost too little too late for Marvel, who have long faced heavy criticism for their depiction of female characters in a highly objectified and sexualised way, constructed to suit the male gaze.
The MCU Phases I and II contained female representation in only supporting roles and, outside of being a romantic interest, female characters could be counted on one hand.
Natasha Romanoff bucked this trend and was written in as a headliner, but not without being steeped in overt sexualisation; depicted wearing a skin-tight leather bodysuit and heeled boots to fight alongside her male counterparts in The Avengers ( 2012).
Director Cate Shortland has since substituted this outdated and sexist costuming of Romanoff for a white bodysuit, similar to the construction and style of Captain America’s iconic uniform.
However, Romanoff was not immune to the love-interest trope in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where she engaged in a romance with Bruce Banner.
Cited by fans as one of the MCU’s worst romantic pairings, it seemingly began out of thin air, with no basis in Marvel comics.
Having served little to the plot development of the MCU, it became so irrelevant in Phase III that following Natasha’s death, no reaction from Banner was explicitly included in Avengers: Endgame.
Reparation attempts have come in different forms. One being the first female-oriented MCU film Captain Marvel (2019); the origin story of comic-book superhero Carol Danvers portrayed by Academy Award Winner Brie Larson.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Gerry Conway – comic book creator of Ms. Marvel – stated Captain Marvel was created as a “feminist role model”. With a release on International Women’s Day in Women’s Month, its intentions to save face for Marvel’s female representation were clear.
More recently, Marvel’s first attempt at a television show – WandaVision (2021) – received outstanding critical reviews for its exceptional performances by Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambo, and Kathryn Hanh as fan favourite Agatha, and its revolutionary use of generic conventions to create a female-focused story that passed the Bechdel Test.
The Bechdel Test measures whether or not a film's portrayal of women is sexist by checking these three things: there are at least two women in the film, the women talk to each other, and the subject of their conversation is something other than a man.
Black Widow also passes the Bechdel Test and it’s easy to see how.
Florence Pugh (Midsommar, Little Women) dominates the film, portraying the charming sister-spy Yelena Belova. She bounces brilliantly off Johansson with expert comedic timing and quick-witted banter.
Alongside Pugh, acting royalty comes in the form of the ever-brilliant and beautiful Rachel Weisz (The Mummy franchise). David Harbour (Stranger Things) brings the gags as he joins the sisters on their journey while portraying the past-his-glory-days father figure. His light-hearted comic relief is a true highlight of the film.
Special credit is owed to makeup and hairstylist Paul Gooch, who has cemented Yelena Belova’s signature under-eye kohl liner and braided updo as the newest cosplay trend, inspiring recreations on TikTok amounting to hundreds of thousands of likes.
Likewise, the costume designs by Jany Temime and Lisa Lovaas can be credited for a 2000% global increase for "Black Widow costume" searches on Google, since the film’s release earlier this month.
[TikTok creator Whitney Wright gets over 200k likes for her Yelena Belova cosplay. Credit: Whitney Wright via TikTok]
Created by a crew in its hundreds across more than five countries, including Australia, the graphics and production design exceeded expectations and demonstrated an official step up for Marvel.
If Black Widow is any indication of the strength of the MCU’s intersection of CGI and storytelling moving forward, audiences can only expect hyper-realistic and jaw-dropping visuals of epic proportions.
Originally scheduled for a May 2020 release, Marvel additionally released Black Widow in July 2021 for Premier Access on Disney+ for a price little more than a movie ticket ($34.99 AUD), in addition to a theatrical release, to compensate for the ever-changing global COVID-19 restrictions.
Black Widow is not a film to be missed, especially for Marvel fans who have been hanging on for a new release since 2019.
