I think Black Widow is a great character, and would make an awesome movie. The Iron Man movies were fantastic, and have laid the major groundwork for the many of the upcoming superhero movies. One of the major complaints I heard was that Scarlett Johansen’s portrayal of the Black Widow, was one dimensional. Largely I would agree. There were many elements of the character missing. She never once displayed a Russian accent. Her dialog lacked personality and seemed to just be in place to move the plot along. Don’t get me wrong I’m a fan of Scarlet Johansson. Her fight scene was awesome, and I think she looks the part of the Black Widow perfectly. I read that to get the role she died her hair red before the audition. Gotta love a woman who takes her role as a comic book babe with enthusiasm. In Iron Man 2 I cared more about every other character before her. I understand giving her an American accent, making her Russian would undermine Whiplash’s uniqueness. Black Widow was just window dressing to set up the expanded Marvel Universe, and prepare her for the Avengers. Also the eye candy was nice.
In the original comics Natalia Romanov was a non costumed soviet spy, and enemy of Iron Man. After a few issues she gained a super-suit, high tech weapons, and defected to the United States. It was revealed that she was a member of the USSR’s secret “Black Widow Ops” program where young girls were trained from birth to be perfect spies, given biological enhancements to provide them with extended youth, and implanted with false memories. Although originally a bad guy she became a hero and was a very prominent Avenger. Because of her skills and knowledge she was an effective freelance SHIELD agent. In the ultimate continuity, no explanation is ever given for why a Russian spy works for America. She is a member of the Black Ops team of the Ultimate. She and is given a false background so she can be a member of the public team. Eventually she betrays them to an alliance of foreign governments and terrorists.
Both versions of Black Widow have some very cool elements. I think I would be fun to see a Black Widow movie. So Black Widow lacked personality or definition, but as parents always seem to say, when life gives you lemons make lemonade. Her serious nature could be part of her deep cover. In Iron Man 2 Tony Stark refers to Black Widow as a ‘triple impostor’. She only had two roles, one as Tony Stark’s assistant, and another as an agent of SHIELD. A triple impostor could be an Easter egg for the role she’ll play later on. Were I to make this movie, I would try to set it up so that the Black Widow is a initially an enemy agent. She could be hiding her Russian accent because she doesn’t want to expose herself. She infiltrates SHIELD, and the Avengers, but comes to sympathize with the good guys. Nick Fury would realize her true nature and offer her the option to be a triple agent. Whoever the villains are (AIM, Hydra, or something else entirely) they could be planning a doomsday scenario. This would have such a high level of security that only Fury would know that Black Widow is playing for both sides. Although a cop movie, not a spy movie The Departed could model for this. Leonard DiCaprio’s character Billy Costigan was a cop trying to infiltrate the Mob, but only his superiors knew it. When his superiors get killed, and suspended Billy had no allies. If the cops caught him he’d be arrested as a mobster. If the mob caught him he’d be killed as a snitch. So now imagine something happens to Nick Fury. Black Window is on her own. Danger is coming at her from all sides and only she knows enough to stop the nefarious plot. If this is set up with the scope of a James Bond or Mission Impossible movie, it could be real interesting.
There haven’t been many recent solo superhero movies with a female lead. The only two were Catwoman, and Elektra. Some might argue that a female action hero wouldn’t work in this genre. I respectfully disagree. Both suffered not because their main characters were women, but because their scripts sucked. I’m not even gonna dignify Catwoman with any discussion. Elektra was a tough movie to make. Jennifer Garner who is generally well suited to playing a good girl, was miscast as the cold blooded bad ass hit woman. Daredevil was okay, but it’s version of Elektra strayed pretty far from the comics. She was never made out to be an assassin working for the Kingpin. Her spin-off movie made it seem as though she’d been an assassin all along. If the Black Widow is played as a spy movie from the beginning, and used as a way to explore the Marvel movie universe it could be a great. There have been 4 Resident Evil movies with a woman bad ass hero. Angelina Jolie has played this kind of character in Tomb Raider, Salt, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Fringe, X-Files,and Xena all feature great female ‘superhero’ in a action roll. With the Black Widow, there is also a strong cast of supporting character. Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Phil Coulson, and other shield agents could help develop a enjoyable spy adventure.
As always if anyone out there on the interwebs sees this and is working on the movie, email me for a consult!