Switch Theme:

Black Widow  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






Black Widow has been somewhat underused.

But.

The sort of but Sir Mixalot is terribly fond of, allegedly?

Her finest moment was playing up to the stereotype in Avengers, despite we the viewers having seen her be incredibly “we would all end up pretzelled at best nuggeted* at worse” in Iron Man 2 and earlier in Avengers.

She just lets the literal God of Mischief monologue his way to a whoopsie. It takes the triode of every monologuing evil doer, and takes advantage of it.

That we again only see it again come in her own film? That’s….satisfying in its own way (if you can string Loki along, you can string anyone along), but also kinda frustrating that we’ve never really other, potential mad spy skillz on screen.

*nuggeted, a LARP term for when your enemy has chopped off all your arms and legs, leaving you as a particularly sweary but otherwise harmless nugget upon the floor. If they only chop off three of four limbs, you are of course a Drumstick. If they chop you to death in the chest or back, you’re Spatchcocked**

**Yes that’s a real thing,

   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Being stuck in a supporting role definitely limited her use to the tones of the films she was in. They keep trying to romance her off rather than give her something useful to do; which kind of comes to a head in Ultron when they somehow manage to both subvert expectations with Clint while going down a horrific rabbit hole with Bruce.

She was well suited to Cap2 but sadly kind of underused there and in Cap3 got put on the wrong side of things to be used properly. There's a bit where they make a nod towards her history with Bucky, but didn't really go anywhere with it.

After that... well, it's not like Infinity War was a great story for spy craft and while the soul stone was a good for resolving her personal relationship through the franchise, it didn't really do much to utilize her skillset.
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Fireknife Shas'el





Leicester

Yeah, Winter Soldier was the best use of her character, with her and Steve coming at the “hero” thing from completely opposite ends of the spectrum.

If they’d done this film earlier, they could have had a really interesting relationship with Yelena in subsequent projects. There’s some nice hints of Natasha actually being the good guy to a moral-less, lethal, assassin, which is a neat role reversal, but it’s stunted because it’s in a single film and doesn’t have anywhere to go given the future.

I guess that’s the BW film in a nutshell; it feels much more at home amongst the phase 2 films and if they’d actually made it then like they should have, there would have been a lot of opportunities to develop these interesting characters and their quasi-familial relationship to Nat.

DS:80+S+GM+B+I+Pw40k08D+A++WD355R+T(M)DM+
 Zed wrote:
*All statements reflect my opinion at this moment. if some sort of pretty new model gets released (or if I change my mind at random) I reserve the right to jump on any bandwagon at will.
 
   
Made in us
Norn Queen






The point of going back is to move forward with Yolena without Natasha. They don't neeed 2 black widows. They needed a passing of the torch. They got that.

Future MCU Predictions!

1) The next "Thanos"

I think all this multiverse gak is going to end with a Beyonder/Secret Wars/Battleworld type scenario that is going to culminate in God Emperor Doom. Doom is going to be the new "Infinity Saga" final boss.

Good opportunity to recast Tony Stark/Steve Rogers/etc... in cannon and put them back in the world when it's all said and done? Yup. Not sure on this point, just saying the opportunity is there for 10 years from now.

2) The U.N.s Avengers.

I think the Contessa is working for the UN putting together their own Avengers. US Agent and a Black Widow is just the start. This is going to matter for a few reasons coming up.

3) Young Avengers/Champions are coming.

I mentioned this before. They just are. Too many of them have been cast for them to not use them.

4) Which brings me to the role the UN Avengers is going to play. They are going to get called in to deal with these super powered children. But more then that, they are going to get called in to deal with ALL the super powered children. I.E. the mutants.

Basically U.S. Agent and co showing up to capture and register teenagers who start manifesting their mutant powers is going to be the trigger that creates Magneto. Iron tech being out in the world from Armor Wars is going to build a technological foundation for something like the sentinel program when the "Mutant Problem" becomes too big for one Avengers team to handle.

This is the next 10 years we have to look forward to.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





This all seems pretty likely. I think we're also likely to see Eternals bring into play "Celestials mucking about with human evolution" as a broad concept on the road to mutants.
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I’m kinda on the fence on The Next Thanos type threat.

What they did with Thanos was brilliant. But, I’m not sure the same trick will work twice in a row.

Though……

We’ve already met Kang, or at least an iteration thereof. And we’ve seen clear confirmation that Wanda can indeed edit reality without really trying that hard. Plus there’s the ongoing fallout of the Blip.

If there’s one thing I can say for the otherwise bland Age of Ultron, in retrospect it did bridge several gaps we didn’t know about at the time.

If they can maintain that level of writing? We should be good.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/03 17:56:58


   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





I mean the trick to Thanos is that he didn't really exist until Infinity War.
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






You’re not wrong. We got cameo after cameo, which was a tickle on the trucked For Those That Know.

Same as each Gem was revealed.

It was a long and well executed tease with, for my money, the best pay off in cinema history.

Hence I don’t think they can or should pull the same trick twice in a row. Which I suppose is the joy of Kang. We can indeed meet multiple versions and see them roundly defeated and squelched, and still have KANG rock up as a saga ending baddie.

   
Made in us
Norn Queen






I don't think Kang is going to be a Thanos. Kang is an Ultron at best. He is going to define the phase we are currently in and then they will wrap this up with an Avengers type and move forward.

The character can then show up here or there in his other incarnations as needed. Drop in a Rama Tut for Apocalypse. Throw in a Yong Nathaniel Richards for Iron Lad (yet another Young Avenger). Tie it off with a bow and move forward.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






I kind of hope so.

But that is the usefulness of Kang. One iteration can be soundly defeated. But wibbly wobbly timey wimey? Maybe you didn’t defeat the right one.

   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Kang's job is almost exclusively continuity handwavium. He COULD get a full Thanos level rewrite into a compelling antagonist, but I feel like we've already seen too much of him to do that.
   
Made in us
Terrifying Doombull




 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I kind of hope so.

But that is the usefulness of Kang. One iteration can be soundly defeated. But wibbly wobbly timey wimey? Maybe you didn’t defeat the right one.


The problem is, that's really dull. And potentially confusing for the general audience. It sounds like a recipe to sink the ship, not keep it scooping up money.
There's literally 1000s of villains out there (and diverse others), and they've barely scratched the outermost layers of them. Bizarrely, they've even forfeited the opportunity to bring in some of the most important ones.
Doing N variations of Kang is a recipe for audience fatigue.

The biggest thing they need is some personal stakes for the villains. Too many have already been 'who are these jackasses and why do we care?' I don't even remember the names of the nominal villains of the Ant-Mans, Iron Mans, Dr Strange or Captain Marvel. Thor 2's villain is only memorable because he was also a Malekith, and the dark elfdar were very warhammery with their vortex grenades and guns vs Asgardian swords (also blah, blah easy mythological tropes).
Kang wants to Conquer is just... fine. Once? But not more than that, otherwise he goes in the forgettable marvel villains closet, and there just aint that much room left.

Efficiency is the highest virtue. 
   
Made in us
Norn Queen






I think they will do enough of a good job with Kang that he will be more like Loki in that he will stick around and have some non-villain beats.

I mean... the whole character of Iron Lad is a Kang who is trying to stop himself from becoming Kang.

So he shows up in movies. We see how big a threat he is. All the damage and all the destruction. And then we bring in the Young Version who wants to avoid it at all costs and his personal stakes are trying to avoid the future he might not be able to.


These are my opinions. This is how I feel. Others may feel differently. This needs to be stated for some reason.
 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





 LunarSol wrote:
I mean the trick to Thanos is that he didn't really exist until Infinity War.


Did you miss the in-credits teaser at the end of the first Avengers movie?

CHAOS! PANIC! DISORDER!
My job here is done. 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




My initial reactions to the early film are that the opening is excellent and chilling, they should avoid full body shots of Florence Pugh because it makes her look super short, why are there so many black Russian operatives...no really, why? Is there actually a sensible reason outside of diversity pandering? I'll even bet that there isn't a single Hispanic one throughout the entire film even though the USSR had close ties with various Latin American countries.

Edit 1: Scarlett is clearly super hot, but do we need multiple booty shots over and over?

Edit 2: Wonder Woman was a vastly superior female led super hero movie. BW wasn't bad, it was just underwhelming for the most part. Even with a solo film I think she got shafted by Marvel.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/08/04 04:07:48


The only way we can ever solve anything is to look in the mirror and find no enemy 
   
Made in us
Nihilistic Necron Lord






We’re getting Riri aren’t we? Do you think they’ll do Iron Lad as well for two young Iron People?

 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






 trexmeyer wrote:
My initial reactions to the early film are that the opening is excellent and chilling, they should avoid full body shots of Florence Pugh because it makes her look super short, why are there so many black Russian operatives...no really, why? Is there actually a sensible reason outside of diversity pandering? I'll even bet that there isn't a single Hispanic one throughout the entire film even though the USSR had close ties with various Latin American countries.

Edit 1: Scarlett is clearly super hot, but do we need multiple booty shots over and over?

Edit 2: Wonder Woman was a vastly superior female led super hero movie. BW wasn't bad, it was just underwhelming for the most part. Even with a solo film I think she got shafted by Marvel.


The Red Room is really presented as Russian, so much as a merc unit which happens to be based in Russia. Seems they’ll take recruits from anywhere they can.

   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





 Vulcan wrote:
 LunarSol wrote:
I mean the trick to Thanos is that he didn't really exist until Infinity War.


Did you miss the in-credits teaser at the end of the first Avengers movie?


Of course I didn't; that's completely missing the point.

Prior to Infinity War, Thanos is at best a vague concept. As a character, he's almost entirely created within Infinity War.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 AduroT wrote:
We’re getting Riri aren’t we? Do you think they’ll do Iron Lad as well for two young Iron People?


Ironheart and Armor Wars are both in the works for D+. I assumed the former would be set up in the latter, but apparently they're doing Ironheart first?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/08/04 14:43:26


 
   
Made in us
Nihilistic Necron Lord






Prior to Infinity War I would say Thanos was set up as a character in Guardians of the Galaxy.

 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





 AduroT wrote:
Prior to Infinity War I would say Thanos was set up as a character in Guardians of the Galaxy.


Roughly to the same degree Palpatine was set up in Empire Strikes Back.
   
Made in gb
Mighty Vampire Count






UK

Picked it up on DVD and watched and enjoyed.

Works very well as a Family film about....Families...

I don't get the niggle about multi-ethinic widows - its spelled out in the film by Ray Winston (nice to see him still working) that he wants worldwide agents.

The banter was good and worked for me - hope to see more of the various characters.

I AM A MARINE PLAYER

"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos

"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001

www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/528517.page

A Bloody Road - my Warhammer Fantasy Fiction 
   
Made in us
Proud Triarch Praetorian





 Mr Morden wrote:
Picked it up on DVD and watched and enjoyed.

Works very well as a Family film about....Families...

I don't get the niggle about multi-ethinic widows - its spelled out in the film by Ray Winston (nice to see him still working) that he wants worldwide agents.

The banter was good and worked for me - hope to see more of the various characters.


I watched it last night on Disney+ and I agree with this. Pretty funny family comedy with some silly action scenes. I thought they had a great sister dynamic. Yelena mocking Natasha for the superhero landing and nitpicking everything she does had some serious younger sibling vibes. Same with their fight against each other.

I liked it, about a quarter of the way I was scared I wouldn't like the end of it, but it played out real nice.

I look forward to Hawkeye just for Florence Pugh as Yelena, hoping she plays a large role in the MCU in general. MCU needs a Widow.
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/business/scarlett-johansson-disney-black-widow.html

oh, the Widow has settled with the Mouse, very hush hush, but I guess money has changed hands, standard contracts have been redrafted,

and the Mouse will no doubt be talking to senators and representatives about how terrible the whole thing was and can't they replace whatever laws allowed the case to be brought in the first place

 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Saw this last night. Enjoyed it more than I expected. Would have really liked it had it been made back in 2016 in time to follow up directly on Civil War, but it all really worked a lot better than I expected.
   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/business/scarlett-johansson-disney-black-widow.html

oh, the Widow has settled with the Mouse, very hush hush, but I guess money has changed hands, standard contracts have been redrafted,

and the Mouse will no doubt be talking to senators and representatives about how terrible the whole thing was and can't they replace whatever laws allowed the case to be brought in the first place


I got caught in the NY times paywall, so here is a guardian article that I think covers it and hopefully stays open to all.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/01/scarlett-johansson-settles-black-widow-lawsuit-disney

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





 LunarSol wrote:
Saw this last night. Enjoyed it more than I expected. Would have really liked it had it been made back in 2016 in time to follow up directly on Civil War, but it all really worked a lot better than I expected.


I’ve only recently watched it too. I enjoyed it more than I expected and it was funnier that is expected too.

It suffered from the overload of explosions in the final act as most action films do these days, and I think I’d have preferred more emphasis on espionage rather than action, but I can’t complain really.

I also agree that it would have worked better if it had been released after Civil War.
   
Made in gb
Mighty Vampire Count






UK

 LunarSol wrote:
Saw this last night. Enjoyed it more than I expected. Would have really liked it had it been made back in 2016 in time to follow up directly on Civil War, but it all really worked a lot better than I expected.


Agreed would have been excellent follow up

I AM A MARINE PLAYER

"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos

"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001

www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/528517.page

A Bloody Road - my Warhammer Fantasy Fiction 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Fireknife Shas'el





Leicester

Yes, it’s definitely feels like a phase 2 film to me.

DS:80+S+GM+B+I+Pw40k08D+A++WD355R+T(M)DM+
 Zed wrote:
*All statements reflect my opinion at this moment. if some sort of pretty new model gets released (or if I change my mind at random) I reserve the right to jump on any bandwagon at will.
 
   
Made in au
Owns Whole Set of Skullz Techpriests






Versteckt in den Schatten deines Geistes.

I still think the film is lousy and what they did to Taskmaster is akin to what X-Men Origins: Wolverine did to Deadpool, but I am happy that the deleted scene showing what happened when Ross caught Widow at the end of the film exists.

It still should have been in the film, but the sudden "She's giving herself up... two weeks later?" nonsense is alleviated.

Industrial Insanity - My Terrain Blog
"GW really needs to understand 'Less is more' when it comes to AoS." - Wha-Mu-077

 
   
Made in us
Nihilistic Necron Lord






Yeah, overall I thought the film was pretty ok. My only complaints are the way she repeatedly walks away from crippling accidents as a non-powered human, and the total butchering of Taskmaster.

 
   
 
Forum Index » Geek Media
Go to: