Black Widow is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Cate Shortland from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. Mostly set during the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), the film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past as a Russian spy before she became an Avenger.

Lionsgate Films began developing a Black Widow film in April 2004, with David Hayter attached to write and direct. The project did not move forward and the character's film rights had reverted to Marvel Studios by June 2006. Johansson was cast in the role for several MCU films beginning with Iron Man 2 (2010), and began discussing a solo film with Marvel. Work began in late 2017 and Shortland was hired in July 2018. Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson contributed to the script before Pearson joined. The film was written to be a prequel that expands on Romanoff's history and helps end her MCU story following the character's death in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Shortland put an emphasis on the fight sequences and said this was the most violent MCU film so far. Filming took place from May to October 2019 in Norway, England, Budapest, Morocco, and Macon, Georgia.

Black Widow premiered at events around the world on June 29, 2021, and was released in the United States on July 9, simultaneously in theaters and through Disney+ with Premier Access. It is the first film in Phase Four of the MCU, and was delayed three times from an original May 2020 release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Black Widow broke several pandemic box office records and grossed over $379 million worldwide. The film received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for the action sequences and for the performances of Johansson and Pugh. In July 2021, Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney over the simultaneous release, which was settled two months later.

Plot

In 1995, super soldier Alexei Shostakov and Black Widow assassin Melina Vostokoff work as Russian undercover agents, posing as a family in Ohio with Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova as their daughters. They steal S.H.I.E.L.D. intel and escape to Cuba where their boss, General Dreykov, has Romanoff and Belova taken to the Red Room for training as Widows. In the following decades, Shostakov is imprisoned in Russia while Romanoff and Belova become successful, dangerous assassins. Romanoff eventually defects to S.H.I.E.L.D. after helping Clint Barton bomb Dreykov's Budapest office, which apparently kills Dreykov and his young daughter Antonia.

In 2016, Romanoff is a fugitive for violating the Sokovia Accords. She escapes from U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross and flees to a safehouse in Norway supplied by Rick Mason. Meanwhile, Belova kills a rogue former Widow but comes in contact with a synthetic gas that neutralizes the Red Room's chemical mind-control agent. Belova sends antidote vials to Romanoff, hoping she and the Avengers can free the other Widows, and goes into hiding. When Romanoff is unknowingly driving with the vials in her car, Red Room agent Taskmaster attacks her. Romanoff escapes from Taskmaster and realizes that the vials came from Budapest. There she finds Belova, who reveals that Dreykov is alive and the Red Room is still active. Widows and Taskmaster attack them, but Romanoff and Belova evade them and meet with Mason, who supplies them with a helicopter.

Romanoff and Belova break Shostakov out of prison to learn Dreykov's location, and he directs them to Vostokoff, who lives on a farm outside Saint Petersburg. There she is refining the chemical mind control process used on the Widows. Vostokoff alerts Dreykov and his agents arrive to take them, but Romanoff convinces Vostokoff to help them and the pair use face mask technology to switch places. At the Red Room, a secret aerial facility, Vostokoff frees Shostakov and Belova from their restraints. Dreykov sees through Romanoff's disguise. He reveals that Taskmaster is Antonia, who suffered damage in the Budapest bombing that was so severe Dreykov had to put technology in her head to save her. This turned Antonia into the perfect soldier, capable of mimicking the actions of anyone she sees. Romanoff is unable to attack Dreykov due to a pheromone lock installed in every Widow, but negates that by breaking her own nose and severing her olfactory nerve. Shostakov battles Taskmaster while Vostokoff disables one of the facility's engines, and they then lock Taskmaster in a cell.

Dreykov escapes as other Widows attack Romanoff, but Belova exposes them to the antidote. Romanoff copies the locations of other Widows worldwide from Dreykov's computer as the facility begins to explode and fall. She retrieves two surviving antidote vials and frees Taskmaster from the locked cell. Vostokoff and Shostakov escape via a plane while Belova blows up Dreykov's aircraft, killing him. In freefall, Romanoff gives Belova a parachute before battling Taskmaster. After landing, Romanoff uses one antidote vial on Taskmaster and gives the other to Belova along with the locations of the other mind-controlled Widows so she can find and free them. Belova, Vostokoff, and Shostakov say goodbye to Romanoff and leave with Antonia and the freed Widows. Two weeks later, Mason supplies Romanoff with a Quinjet to use in freeing the imprisoned Avengers.

In a post-credits scene set after Romanoff's death, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine visits Belova at Romanoff's grave. De Fontaine blames Romanoff's death on Barton and assigns him as Belova's next target.

Cast

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow:An Avenger, highly trained former-KGB assassin, and former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Romanoff is on the run and alone following the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), which Johansson saw as an opportunity to show the character as "a woman who has come into her own and is making independent and active choices for herself". Director Cate Shortland said Romanoff's ambiguous psychological journey was the center of the story, and writer Eric Pearson said the film would show Romanoff become the "more emotional, vulnerable and at peace" version of the character seen in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Because the character dies in Endgame, Johansson said Black Widow allowed her to leave the MCU "on a high note" and said her work portraying Romanoff was now complete. Ever Anderson portrays a young Natasha Romanoff. Anderson, who speaks Russian, felt her background in taekwondo and gymnastics training was helpful for the role. Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova:A sister to Romanoff who was trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow. Johansson said Belova was an early inclusion in the film who could stand on her own alongside Romanoff. Pugh said there was a generational difference between the two, describing Belova as "unapologetic, and confident in herself, and curious... and emotionally brave". She admired Belova's bluntness and determination, and noted that the character is a skilled fighter who does not know how to live a normal life. Shortland said Romanoff would be handing the baton to Belova in the film, and during filming Pugh looked to Johansson for guidance on meeting the demands of making Marvel films. Johansson wanted to avoid an antagonistic dynamic between the two characters, instead having a sister-like but contentious relationship that Pugh characterized as "a sister story that really hones in on grief, on pain, on abuse, on being a victim—and living with being a victim". Violet McGraw portrays a young Yelena Belova. David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian:The Russian super-soldier counterpart to Captain America and father-figure to Romanoff and Belova. Harbour said Shostakov was not heroic or noble, and was both comically and tragically flawed. Shostakov claims that he fought Captain America in the 1980s, and Pearson felt the character actually believes this despite it being impossible in the MCU timeline. Harbour and Shortland discussed Ricky Gervais's performance in The Office (2001–2003) and Philip Seymour Hoffman's in The Savages (2007), described as "comedy that comes out of real domestic need". Harbour had already grown his facial hair for the fourth season of Stranger Things (2016–2025), and he gained weight for the role to be . He then lost over the course of filming to portray a younger version of the character in the opening flashback sequence. O-T Fagbenle as Rick Mason:An ally from Romanoff's S.H.I.E.L.D. past who has a romantic history with her. Fagbenle described Mason as a "finder for people who aren't so affiliated with armies" who assists Romanoff in that manner. On why a romance between Mason and Romanoff is not directly explored in the film, Fagbenle said the film was "bigger than that" and their relationship was part of Romanoff's larger family instead. Beyond Pearson's script, Fagbenle developed Mason's backstory with Shortland and Johansson. As Taskmaster's identity was kept secret, many people assumed Mason would secretly take up the mantle, which Fagbenle had to deny even to his personal trainer. The film's final scene, in which Mason provides Romanoff with a Quinjet, was added during reshoots in early 2020 after test audiences liked seeing Romanoff and Mason together. Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov / Taskmaster:Dreykov's daughter who completes missions for the Red Room. She has photographic reflexes that allow her to mimic opponents' fighting styles, and uses techniques from superheroes such as Black Widow, Iron Man, Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Hawkeye. Several body doubles were required to portray the character's various skills. Kurylenko said much of Antonia's pain is internal, and described her relationship with Dreykov as abusive since Dreykov uses her "as a tool [and] has her do whatever he wants". Taskmaster is revealed to be Antonia in the film instead of the comic book counterpart Tony Masters since Masters did not fit into the film's story and it was more natural to Pearson to tie Taskmaster into a "loose end from Natasha's past". Ryan Kiera Armstrong portrays a young Antonia Dreykov. William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross:The United States Secretary of State and a former U.S. Army general. Regarding Ross's mindset in Black Widow following the character's attempt to control the Avengers in Civil War, Hurt said there was "fatigue setting in" and Ross was a "soldier on the last hill... the way he can strike back against the changing world would be by capturing Natasha Romanoff." Ray Winstone as Dreykov:A Russian general and the head of the Red Room. Pearson felt the film needed a villain that could fit within its timeframe undetected to avoid contradicting the events of Infinity War. He described Dreykov as a coward who is "puppeteering things" from the shadows and does not care about hurting others. Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff:A seasoned spy trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow and mother-figure to Romanoff and Belova who is now one of the Red Room's lead scientists. Compared to Vostokoff's comic book counterpart, who becomes the supervillain Iron Maiden, Weisz felt the film's version was more ambiguous and layered, with a deadpan personality and no sense of humor which Weisz found amusing. Weisz was given a tailored Black Widow suit for the film which she called an "iconic" piece of clothing that was "a lot to live up to". Weisz decided to portray Vostokoff as more affectionate towards Shostakov, rather than dismissive.