"Form over function?" That seems to be the question that major studios ask when adapting comic book properties on the bigscreen, deciding what is best in regards to costumes. Marvel’s gotten around that by stressing tactical suits that coincidentally have a bit of flair to them. But sooner or later, these movies need to address why a certain character is going to continue to wear the same flashy outfit constantly, particularly considering it draws a target on their back. This particular issue is a notable one for Black Widow, who nonetheless wears a skintight leather suit as part of her "S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform." (why would a spy need a uniform?) When fighting alongside other heroes in the comics, she pretty much just wears the typical sleek catsuit, complete with bracelet "stingers," applying brute force through martial arts and weaponry. In the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, however, star Scarlett Johansson tells Total Film (via Dark Horizons) that things are about to change on that front.
"I don't spend a lot of time in my catsuit in this one. I take it to the streets in a different way. There's a real kind of Big Brother aspect to this film. All that Cap and Widow know to be true, everything that they trust in - as much as they trust in anything - is sort of ripped out from underneath them in a way that we haven't seen before. Everything is not as it seems. It's not so black and white, it's not so cut and dry, it's not good versus evil. The stakes are much higher. It brings them closer together because they find themselves in a vulnerable situation and they're in it together."
Well, if we needed any further confirmation that The Winter Soldier was going to muddy the waters of the onscreen Marvel universe, there it is. Certainly Cap and the Widow are going to be pushing hard against some faction of the government and/or S.H.I.E.L.D., which means the duo are likely going to have to hit the pavement out of costume.
It also suggests that things are going to be real bad for S.H.I.E.L.D. at the end of this film. By the time Avengers: Age Of Ultron hits theaters, the organization could be uprooted completely from within. Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury seems to have a cautious alliance with justice, but Robert Redford’s Alexander Pierce seems to be closer to the braintrust that greenlighted the nuking of Manhattan at the end of the last film. Don’t go Googling anything else about Pierce beyond that – some colorful spoilers are being hypothesized out there.
It sounds like a less flashy Cap and Widow are going to spend a chunk of this film on defense. Maybe the film, which is said to be borrowing from several '70s political thrillers, is finally going to let Black Widow wear something more casual and conservative now that not everything these guys wear needs to dazzle.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters April 4th.
