SPOILERS are ahead for Black Widow.
For too long Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff has been one of two original Avengers without their own movie to tell her story. With Black Widow, it’s finally time. Now that the summer blockbuster is out in theaters and streaming on Disney+ Premier Access, we can compare notes about how the Marvel movie unfolded Nat’s origin story and the questions we have left after Black Widow's end credit scene rolled.
Black Widow gave fans a greater insight into Natasha’s upbringing and traumas that were previously only hinted at in between major Avengers team ups. The movie gave the character closure in regards to reuniting with her family and obliterating the Red Room out of the sky. That being said, the latest MCU movie also has left us with a few loose ends to mull over.
Wait… Natasha Never Tried To Get In Contact With Her Family?
The summer movie sees Scarlett Johansson’s Nat visiting her little sister, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, and teaming up with her, David Harbour’s Red Guardian and Rachel Weisz’s Melina on a mission to take down the Red Room’s evil mastermind, Dreykov. Although Widow plays it off as a family she didn’t consider “real,” it’s evident she does in fact care about her unlikely nuclear family, which bears the questions, is it true that she didn’t have any contact with them throughout the 21-year time gap shared on screen.
Maybe Natasha did in fact secretly keep tabs on them, but never actually made physical contact with them until the events of the movie? We are sincerely curious if the Avenger had ever planned to check up on them before. At the same time, for the sake of the stakes of the movie it wouldn’t have been as good if she hung out with them every other Thursday.
Who Exactly Are Natasha’s Parents And What Happened?
One aspect of Black Widow’s life we get more insight into but never get a straight answer is on the matter of her biological parents. In the movie we learn that Natasha has spent much of her life wondering about who they were and it’s a major piece of information that motivates her to get to Dreykov. However, when Widow confronts the villain about her biological mother he says that “Unknown” was on their gravestone along with sharing she did put up a fight for her infant daughter before she was surrendered to the Red Room.
In Endgame, we mustn't forget that Black Widow learned the name of her father, which is Ivan. However, Black Widow did not give us much more answers on the names and full history of her parents. But maybe Yelena will finish Natasha’s business following her death.
What Is Up With Mason And Will We See Him Again?
Marvel introduced a new relationship for Black Widow in O-T Fagbenle’s Mason that remained unclear as the movie unfolded. It seems as though Mason is a professional who is in the business of helping people like Natasha stay hidden and go from one mission and identity to the other. The two characters give off a bit of a flirty vibe, so it has us curious how long their relationship has spanned and how important he has been to Widow’s life.
Marvel isn’t particularly one to introduce characters for no reason either. Overall, we’d be curious if Fagbenle will return in some capacity in future MCU films or TV shows.
How Do The Dots Connect Between Civil War And Infinity War?
In all honesty, Black Widow could have bridged the gaps to help it’s audience out with its MCU timeline a bit better. If you were really paying attention, you might have noticed that the movie takes place in the middle of Captain America: Civil War and ends with Natasha donning the hair that we see her in for Avengers: Infinity War. That being said, it’s still been five years since Civil War came out and three years since Infinity War.
We know that Black Widow sees her after the airport battle in Civil War and when she boards the jet at the end, she’s planning to “break some friends out of prison.” There’s not a complete through line for us to latch on to, such as who specifically she was in contact with to transition from Civil War to Infinity War, but perhaps it was Steve because he also was part of the prison break.
Did Natasha Speak To Her Family And The Widows After The Snap?
We’ve established that Black Widow takes place in the past and before Natasha’s most defining hero work in Avengers: Endgame where she worked with the Avengers to save the universe through her sacrifice on Vormir. After going on her mission for Infinity War, Natasha was around for five years between the Snap and the Blip. We’re curious if her family including Yelena and Red Guardian were part of those who were snapped and if she had any contact with them before she gave her life in Endgame.
This is something that we’d imagine will be explored in the Hawkeye series that Florence Pugh’s Yelena is part of. We know that she is going to come face-to-face with Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye under the impression that he was responsible for her death. We’re hoping to get more answers about the gap between Black Widow and the present day, including what happened to Red Guardian, Melina and the Widows after the movie.
Where Is Natasha Buried And When Was Her Funeral?
Finally, let’s talk about that gravestone moment in Black Widow after the credits. The Avenger finally gets her own gravestone following the events of Endgame, but we can’t help but wonder where the character was buried and how her funeral went behind the scenes. The grave is decorated with flowers and photos, but we still hope the MCU finishes off Natasha’s legacy on a strong note following her death.
Amidst these still open-ended elements of Natasha Romanoff, she was always a mysterious character and we’re grateful to have finally seen her take the top billing for Black Widow.
