# Marvel's Black Widow (2021) \[Be warned, Open Spoilers after post 11\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, disney-hulu\ **Created:** [July 9, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101 "2021-07-09T15:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/1 "2021-07-09T15:40:02Z")
The new Black Widow movie is out today, in theaters and streaming. I haven’t seen it yet, but will probably tonight. I’m looking forward to it. There’s a lot of great potential, although prequels have a big chance to mess things up. But I think the character’s past is mysterious enough that they have a lot of leeway with how it plays out. Anyone else have expectations? Anyone want to share their opinions after seeing it. (Please spoiler major plot points.) ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/2 "2021-07-09T19:11:00Z")
Saw it last night, liked it quite a bit. Can’t say it breaks new ground, but the new actor certainly has a future in the MCU. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/3 "2021-07-09T23:32:52Z")
Some of the shit she survived was incredibly goofy, like getting kicked 20 feet then bouncing back first of a concrete column, but overall the movie was good. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/4 "2021-07-09T23:41:32Z")
Yeah I have a lot of issues with the durability of what I call the “squishy” Avengers. I didn’t really like it. I’m not a big Natasha fan and I can’t stand ScarJo. But it wasn’t as bad as I feared. I was hoping it would be better, which is why I gave it a chance. It was a lot like Winter Soldier, which isn’t my end of the MCU. My end is the funny and weird, not the serious and action-y. So it really was about what I expected and that’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/5 "2021-07-10T07:34:38Z")
Went and saw it last night with my twenty-something daughters and they LOVED it. I really enjoyed it as well. A real breakthrough for female actors, for sure, when the only significant male role was David Harbour as Alexei. A female action hero movie with a female director. About time. ScarJo was great and Florence Pugh was outstanding as Yelena. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/6 "2021-07-10T08:22:45Z")
Well, technically, _Captain Marvel_ had Brie Larson as the star with Anna Boden directing. But I suppose that Ryan Fleck as co-director removes that film from consideration. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/7 "2021-07-10T09:54:22Z")
It’s not just the top spot. Nearly all of the fighters were women as well. It was the first time I’ve seen an action movie with a majority female cast. I like Brie Larson, though I liked her better in The United States of Tara than Captain Marvel, but I think Black Widow was a bigger achievement as far as female representation goes. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/8 "2021-07-10T09:59:50Z")
Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/9 "2021-07-10T10:20:28Z")
The numpties who hated Fake Mandarin are gonna go absolutely ballistic over Damaged Female Taskmaster. I think this aspect was kind of clumsily handled from a narrative structure standpoint, but that’s different from the “don’t take my toys away” squeals we’ll get from the entitled fanboy dipshits. In general I thought the movie was pretty good. The wall-to-wall practical action in the first half was solid. And I appreciated that the setup in the prologue didn’t shy away from the horror of stealing and manipulating children. Maybe the darkest thing the MCU has ever been willing to look directly at. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/10 "2021-07-10T11:30:18Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > A female action hero movie with a female director. About time. Wonder Woman? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/11 "2021-07-10T15:58:27Z")
At the risk of someone breaking my arm, did they ever explain how Red Guardian could have ever fought Captain America given the MCU’s timeline? Could he have fought “married to Peggy” Cap? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/12 "2021-07-10T16:13:54Z")
I don’t think he did, like, face to face. He was bragging about his place in the “ideological struggle,” fighting for attention on the world stage. That’s how I took it, anyway, the semi-fictional boasting of an insecure blowhard. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/13 "2021-07-10T16:54:07Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > At the risk of someone breaking my arm, did they ever explain how Red Guardian could have ever fought Captain America given the MCU’s timeline? Could he have fought “married to Peggy” Cap? He didn’t, someone even called him out on his bullshit. How full was everyone’s theaters? I was at the 5pm showing on Thursday and it was maybe a third full. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/14 "2021-07-10T18:52:32Z")
Well true, there’s that. But it was also the sheer number of women characters, both major and minor, that represented I think a major achievement. This was a film with a very large female cast. Passes the Bechdel test. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel\_test](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test) ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/15 "2021-07-10T18:54:31Z")
We were lucky if there were maybe 20 people there on opening night. It’s gonna take a while to get back into the swing of things methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/16 "2021-07-10T19:44:50Z")
We streamed it. For four people the price was less than $8 each. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/17 "2021-07-11T00:19:25Z")
But for non-comics-readers like me, I don’t know who the Taskmaster is so it didn’t ruin anything for me and presumably people like me. Plus they didn’t use the name, so I guess they could make him/her more comics accurate in a later appearance? I’ve thought about the movie a lot since yesterday and I hate that my favorite thing in it was the guy. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/18 "2021-07-11T00:28:28Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > I like Brie Larson, though I liked her better in The United States of Tara than Captain Marvel If you haven’t seen [Short Term 12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Term_12) I highly recommend it! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/19 "2021-07-11T01:06:55Z")
Streamed it today and liked it. I think I’d put it in the 2nd tier of MCU movies - not as good as the truly outstanding ones (like Winter Soldier and Endgame), but very solid and entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![HughGoply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hughgoply/32/7834_2.png) [@HughGoply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HughGoply)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101/20 "2021-07-11T02:08:26Z")
I haven’t seen many of the Marvel movies, but does Black Widow or Natasha have super powers? Otherwise, she should be dead right? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvels-black-widow-2021-be-warned-open-spoilers-after-post-11/946101.md?page=2)