As Marvel's epics get bigger, Black Widow's stakes feel too small - The Verge

I couldn't disagree more with this article. I think the timing for the new film is perfect. While androids, aliens and sorcerers are fun Marvel fair, it can get old. This film is a deeper look into the Black Widow character, connecting 2011 eye Candy, to heartfelt sacrificing heroine in 2019. I applaud Marvel for taking a step back from the big bad over the top villains, to focus on a story that would align with the skill sets of the main character.

Yes a god like Thor could have taken out the red room in a heartbeat, but that would not be a story. It's as ridiculous as Hawkeye taking out Thanos singlehanded. The whole MCU needs to have these epic films, but at the same time, it also needs to pull back and have smaller ones so we can enjoy those less awe inspiring characters.

On another note, here is an updated MCU timeline, and yes I'm still leaving Agents of Shield in the list. 😂 even after the TVA reveal.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Marvel's Agent Carter Season 1 (2015 8 episodes )
Marvel's Agent Carter Season 2 (2016 10 episodes )
Captain Marvel (2019)
Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man 2 (2010)
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Thor (2011)
The Avengers (2012)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 1 total of 22 episodes (2013)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Daredevil Season 1 (2015 13 episodes )
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 2 (2014 22 episodes )
Ant-Man (2015)
Jessica Jones Season 1 (2015)
Daredevil Season 2 (2016 13 episodes )
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Black Widow (2021)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 3 (2015)
Luke Cage Season 1 (2016)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Doctor Strange (2016)
Black Panther (2018)
Iron Fist Season 1 (2017)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 4 (2016)
The Defenders Season 1 (2017)
The Inhumans Season 1 (2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
The Punisher Season 1 (2017)
Jessica Jones Season 2 (2018)
Luke Cage Season 2 (2018)
Cloak and Dagger Season 1 (2018)
The Runaways Season 1 (2017)
Daredevil Season 3 (2018)
The Punisher Season 2 (2019)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Season 5 (2017)
Iron Fist Season 2 (2018)
Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)
Avengers Infinity War (2018)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Spider-man Far From Home (2019)
Wandavision (2021) (Disney+)
The Falcon and Winter Soldier (2021) (Disney+)
Loki (2021) (Disney+)

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2021/7/9/22569137/black-widow-marvel-endgame-space-magic-loki-wandavision

As Marvel's epics get bigger, Black Widow's stakes feel too small

A movie out of time, in more ways than one

Chaim GartenbergJuly 9, 2021 9:30 am

Black Widow was released at the wrong time, in multiple ways. The new Marvel prequel was one of the most high-profile films to be displaced by the constantly shifting theatrical release schedule caused by the shuttering of theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Black Widow — a film set between Captain America: Civil War's superhero dust-up and Avengers: Infinity War's cosmos-spanning epic — feels like a movie that should have been released when it's actually set, instead of as a belated prequel.

Warning: spoilers ahead for Black Widow, Avengers: Endgame, Loki, and the general Marvel Cinematic Universe

Photo: Marvel Studios

It's not that Black Widow is a bad movie or an unworthy member of the Marvel saga. Its brand of James Bond-esque spy-fi harks back to some of the more grounded MCU films like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, less focused on superpowered smack-downs in favor of more traditional action movie fare.

And if it had been released in 2016 after Civil War, that would have been fine. But Marvel's films have undergone vast shifts in tone since then. Doctor Strange opened up the connected universe to straight-up magic, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok both offered galaxy-spanning adventures with whole planets at stake, and of course, Infinity War and Endgame see the Avengers — and Natasha Romanov — fight to save quite literally all of existence.

After all that, Black Widow's stakes feel low, especially for a character that fans have gotten to see in action in far bigger adventures for over a decade. For all the joking about how Thor could handle the Red Room without breaking a sweat, the over-the-top reality that is the regular day-to-day of the modern Marvel shows and movies hangs over Black Widow's throwback style.

Nothing in Black Widow's story really necessitates it to be a prequel, either. Sure, it's fun to see where Natasha gets her Infinity War get-up from. But outside of its post-credit setup (which is set in the MCU's post-Endgame "present"), there's no story element or revelation about Natasha's character that would be different had the film been released a half-decade earlier.

In fact, knowing Natasha has this found family to protect (one that the rest of the Avengers didn't know about) could have arguably deepened her short-shrifted sacrifice in Endgame. Imagine if Natasha's adopted sister or parents were lost in Thanos' snap, and the sequence where she fights with Hawkeye over who gets to fling themselves off a cliff has the added weight of trying to bring them back, too. (Instead, we had Clint as the only one to potentially have to sacrifice being with his family.)

Photo: Marvel Studios

Contrast that with Loki. The show is airing on Disney Plus right as Black Widow comes out, and it also examines an older version of a Marvel character in a new light. But where Loki is using that perspective to re-examine what makes its titular character tick, and what separates the version of Loki then from the more heroic one fans were familiar with, Black Widow doesn't give Natasha the chance to change or grow. She's already at the end of her journey, fully formed — she's just the only one who doesn't know it.

Black Widow also suffers from COVID-related delays; Disney is only releasing it now because it's running out of time, thematically. Its interconnected web of shows and movies means that Marvel can't advance with series like Hawkeye (which will directly follow up Black Widow's post-credits scene). But it also means that Black Widow's comparatively grounded and realistic adventure is coming after WandaVision's sorcerous saga or Loki's era-spanning epic.

It's not that Black Widow doesn't try to raise the stakes, establishing Dreykov's army of Widows as some kind of massive, political force that secretly controls the world. But once you get cosmic magical space mysteries as the norm, it's hard to go back to "spies, but better" as your table stakes.

Photo: Marvel Studios

There's a world where Marvel was willing to commit to a film led by one of its female characters in 2016 instead of 2019 (when Captain Marvel finally broke the MCU's decade-long streak of male protagonists), where Black Widow serves as a spotlight on Natasha's origins ahead of her ultimate sacrifice, and where the stakes are still aligned with the studio's other properties.

Based on the trailer for Marvel's next theatrical bow, Shang-Chi is about to punch a dragon in the face with magic space rings. And next to that, it's hard not to feel like Black Widow's brand of more grounded spy action is too little, too late.