#WeWantWidow - Maybe We Shouldn't?

[Paragon Fury]

So for those of you not in the loop, there has been a hashtag going around for a while by the handle of #WeWantWidow in order to show support for a Black Widow only/center movie. And while I would still love another MU Marvel piece...I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here for a moment.

I don't think Black Widow would do as well in her own movie, nor should she get one. Why? The two big reasons are;

1: Black Widow is better off being mysterious. We get little bits and pieces of her story, glimpses here and there in the movies and in shows like Agent Carter. They're tantalizing, and keep us interested in her. However, and actual movie about her would need to be on the level of Iron Man 2 or The First Avenger or The Winter Soldier; we'd have to learn and see a lot more about her ruining a huge chunk of that mystery which is pretty integral to her character.

2: Black Widow really, really plays well off other characters - most specifically, Captain America, Nick Fury and Iron Man. She is like Hawkeye in that regard; an anchor, a weight and a balance for the team. She, like Hawkeye, is a mere normal among super soldiers, geniuses and gods and seeing her perform among them is amazing.

Its also among them that she seems relatively normal and relate-able. Separate her from them and imagine her for a second - she goes pretty quickly from "Hero" to "Sociopath in a catsuit hired by the good guys". Without anyone around her, I'm not sure she could come off nearly half as awesome and likable as she does when she has the Captain and Iron Man to bat around.

 

[renegade7]

I don't know.

On the one hand, it would be interesting to see a Marvel take on the espionage genre (which I happen to be a fan of) or otherwise do a little bit more with some of their secondary characters. A movie wouldn't necessarily need to go that in-depth about her character to be interesting or have a compelling narrative, I could easily see Black Widow becoming a character more like Samus Aran, one that has just enough backstory for a motivation and who doesn't really need to develop or even be tied that directly to the narrative so much as just drive the narrative forward.

However, Marvel does seem to really like their character development, even when they do it badly. Multiple times in Ultron we see attempts to build her up as more "human", but they pretty much fail. It's not that I think she shouldn't develop as a character or that morally bankrupt and existentially vacant contract killers that are just 2edgy4me are more interesting, but that it's not strictly necessary and that sob stories, melodrama, and angst aren't the only way to add depth. In the scene where she laments that she was sterilized by the USSR as part of her training, all I could sort of feel was that it was a bit out of sync with what had been established. She's not the sort of person I can see aspiring to the "settle down and have a family" life, and while her experience would be horrible for most people, the whole point is that she is not a normal person.

Since I don't know how much I trust Marvel to pull it off well, I can't see I'd be too excited for them to make a Black Widow movie.

 

[Queen Michael]

Look, I'd love a female-led Marvel movie. BUt in y experience, people who clamour for a Widow movie are more eager about the female protagonist-thing than about getting Widow specifically. If it'd been someone else who was the Avengers one woman on the team, they would have been equally eager about her.

You know why some people said that Lucy was like a Black Widow movie? It's because Widow is so far from unique that you can make a Black Widow movie without even trying.

Not to mention that a movie about her would be a superhero movie about a person who isn't really a superhero. Can be done well, sure, but it's not an ideal basis for a movie.

I'm sure some people are just huge Widow fans, but for the most part, I'd say it's more about giving the female character more attention than about interest in Natasha specifically. Which is why I'd rather see a movie about a superheroine that haven't been in the MCU until now. That way we'd get more heroines, while at the same time getting us a character who's genuinely interesting.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

I'll go ahead and agree for pretty much your reasons. I definitely sympathize with everyone calling for a Black Widow movie, because their hearts are in the right place. But you're right, she is not a good choice for a lead.

And there are plenty of other Marvel ladies who would both be better in their own film, and bring with them new pieces to add to the franchise. If they can make an Ant-Man movie, then they can definitely profit from opening up the universe even more.

 

[Redryhno]

The thing is that alot of her backstory is sorta rooted in the history of the Soviet Union, something that's not all that well covered in history classes anywhere but in the areas around what used to be the SU. So you'd be spending quite a bit of time covering that in the movie. Then you've got her diluted Roger's formula that gets injected and that's about it.

She's got some backstory sure, but more often than not, she's sorta like a B-list hero. And I don't mean that in a bad way, she's just not strong enough to carry a movie/comic series on her own, she's like alot of the Marvel Universe in that they do better as a part of a team, in the shadows with a few bits of exposition, or as a supporting character. About the only thing you'd get out of it is just a female 007 with much less unadulterated manly sexiness and probably less femaley sexiness. Which wouldn't be that bad, but if you're going to do female 007, why not just do female 007 and not Russian Broken-Minded-Child-All-Growed-Up cinema?

Also, I'm not advocating for Jamie Bond in this.

 

[HardkorSB]

She already had prominent roles in 4 Marvel movies, Civil War will be the 5th.
She may not have her own movie but she's definitely a presence in the MCU.

I don't think she's protagonist material, especially not in a universe centered around superheroes.
You also won't see a Nick Fury or a Hawkeye movie.
They're OK as characters but there's not enough to hang a superhero movie on just 1 of them.
Maybe a movie with Widow, Fury and Hawkeye as a team, without the other people, that could work but it would just be a Mission Impossible movie.

 

[Redd the Sock]

I've said repeatedly that I can't see a Black Widow Movie that isn't going to feel like they just repurposed a Bourne or Mission Impossible script. It would work assuming they get people that know spy movies and not the people writing their spy show, but feel lazy. Come on, can't we have a little originality and ask for Gamorra at least. Hell, I'd tell Marvel to go completely nuts and make a Death Locket (a teenage girl with Deathlok's cybernetics) film before I'd get hyped for a Widow movie.

 

[The Madman]

I wouldn't mind a cool spy-thriller style super-hero movie in a similar vein to Winter Soldier, in fact I think it has the potential to be amazing. Winter Soldier was probably my favourite of the recent Marvel movies and it prominently featured Black Widow, I could see her holding a movie on her own. Make it less about the witty one liners and more of a psychological spy-thriller where she's working to prevent some super-hero level destruction behind the scenes, skulking through mad scientists labs and evil villains lairs, sure it could be cool.

Kinda like a modern day style classic Bond flick with the neat gadgets and world-ending dangers, only with less Bond and more Black Widow.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I mean she's a supporting character who simply flirts with whoever the producers decide. She has a big butt, big boobs and occasionally says "Boys" in that pornstar condescending way.
As a character Black Widow couldn't hold her own for an entire plot because it would have to be a downgrade in action and importance. Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man...they are larger than life. They can deal with larger than life, exciting, enemies. Monsters, robots, super Nazis, other kinds of hulks.
Black Widow could maybe take down a gang of drug runners or arms dealers, provided they only have regular dudes and not a single person with any form of super power or high tech gear.

Besides I saw Lucy and after her performance in that, I don't think Scarlet should be going to the lead in any action movies for a long time.

If you want a super-heroine movie, go Scarlet Witch. She at least can do something other than smothering guys with her inner thighs.

 

[Phasmal]

No, bugger it, I want Widow.

I'd especially love a prequel that sees her getting recruited to SHIELD.
I'm looking forward to Captain Marvel, but when someone says `oh maybe we shouldn't` to a female led superhero film, just pfffffffffffft.
Yeah, we should.

If fucking Ant-Man gets a movie, let's do it.

Spoiler: Who wouldn't want this?

 

[Bat Vader]

While I don't want to see an origin movie for Black Widow I would like to see one showing how she gets recruited to Shield and meets Hawkeye. It would be interesting seeing the different ops that she has done.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Black Widow could maybe take down a gang of drug runners or arms dealers, provided they only have regular dudes and not a single person with any form of super power or high tech gear.

Meh? That was functionally true of most of Nolan's Batman trilogy too. Or if you prefer the MCU, Daredevil (Netflix, not Affleck). Both were excellent. It's not the powers or the gear or the scope of the problem that makes a quality film, it's the script, the direction, and to a lesser degree the casting/acting.

They seem content to use Netflix for the time being to tell their more "mundane" hero stories, and to take some risks in deviating from the "bigger, louder, more heroes!" approach that is dominating the cinematic offerings. So I doubt we see a Black Widow movie, at least not one of any reasonable scale or interesting ambition. She's a popular character and will continue to get crowbared into other films, as Marvel is upping the hero count in every new movie. There's getting to be more heroes to keep track of than characters in The Wire.

I think a worthwhile female lead superhero film is probably going to have to come from (shudder) DC.

It's good that people are clamoring for this, though. It's said again and again, if you want X, demonstrate a demand for it.

 

[FalloutJack]

She can still be enigmatic on her own while dealing with the red in her ledger. I see no problems here.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I don't particularly want any more MCU movies, period, but I fail to see why they couldn't make one starring Black Widow.

 

[Tilly]

Part of the problem is she's not that good a superhero.

I heard of all the crazyness about the recent movie. Then I went and saw it. I couldn't understand what on earth people were raging about. She played as big a role as the rest of them and just as big as in the first film. And the reports that she was like being a slut working her way between the characters was nonsense. Who came up with that crap?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'd especially love a prequel that sees her getting recruited to SHIELD.

Prequel?! Eesh!

First of all I don't care much for Black Widow, but most of all the one thing that makes her at least somewhat interesting is that her past is shrouded in mystery and intrigue. You actually reveal that and I doubt her character will have anything left to her. But then apart from Rogue (as seen in the animated series) there's few Marvel ladies I actually like.

I'd rather have an Elasti-Girl solo movie.