Black Widow Solo: How Would You Do It?

[Godzillasaurus]

Just what the thread title states...

Should there exist a Black Widow solo film sometime in the future (which there likely will not be, but we can all use our imagination), how would you write the plot? What villains would you include? Any appearances from other major heroes in the MCU?

Pitch your story ideas for a Black Widow solo!

 

[Decepticonus]

They are bastards for not doing it. It's simple - Remember that espionage 70's spy thriller you like so much called Winter Soldier? We're doing it again (more or less) but with Black Widow.
They gave her age away in Winter Soldier in her file, she's roughly 30. Let's more or less retcon that, it was a false file and go into her slowed aging, because she's been around since the Cold War turns out. It can be almost prequel-ish.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I would model it on The Bourne Trilogy with the villains being the project that created her.

 

[Decepticonus]

I would model it on The Bourne Trilogy with the villains being the project that created her.

Yup that works. Preferably no HYDRA.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Yup that works. Preferably no HYDRA.

Leviathan and Red Room weren't associated with HYDRA in Agent Carter, but the first season finale did suggest future ties.

 

[Godzillasaurus]

They are bastards for not doing it. It's simple - Remember that espionage 70's spy thriller you like so much called Winter Soldier? We're doing it again (more or less) but with Black Widow.
They gave her age away in Winter Soldier in her file, she's roughly 30. Let's more or less retcon that, it was a false file and go into her slowed aging, because she's been around since the Cold War turns out. It can be almost prequel-ish.

If I were to do it myself, I, too, would make it a prequel. An origin story for her would be great on the big screen!

And then save the sequels for the middle of the MCU where she can be working in the modern era alongside whomever else might join the film.

 

[Decepticonus]

If I were to do it myself, I, too, would make it a prequel. An origin story for her would be great on the big screen!

And then save the sequels for the middle of the MCU where she can be working in the modern era alongside whomever else might join the film.

Could have flash backs, a sorta non-linear story kinda like Batman Begins. Show her past, how horrible it was, all the wrongs she committed, her joining S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers thinking it will make a difference, she will be happier only to show well... not so much, though still needs some kind of a good ending.

 

[metaphysician]

I hate the idea of Immortal Natasha, so I certainly wouldn't use it. What I would use is her ties to her own past, in one of two loosely-inspired-by-comics ways:

1. As part of Natasha's own efforts to atone for her misdoings, she has quietly delivered a token to various people she has wronged, or more typically their next of kin. By using this token, they can get a hold of her, and request one favor, which she has made clear she will attempt to fulfill to the best of her ability. She isn't stupid, and won't accept obvious bad faith requests that are just trying to get her killed, and she won't break her newly burgeoning sense of ethics, but otherwise? You have the ability to ask the world's greatest spy and assassin to solve one problem for you.

And one day, she gets a call, from someone calling in their chit. . .

( The core plot can be whatever, but the key theme is "How does one go about atoning for unforgivable sins?" Set that as the backdrop to a grand spy adventure. )

2. Natasha is the last living graduate of the Red Room. She made damn sure of that, because one of the missions she did after she turned a new leaf was to wipe them out. She is not, however, the last living *student* of the Red Room. Natasha managed to save one of the last class, a girl who was not even ten at the time. With the help of her new friends/minders at SHIELD, she arranged for the girl to be adopted by a nice, normal family, with a new identity and a chance to get away from the world of spies and assassins. And now, many years later, she's a happy, well-adjusted young adult.

And then parties unknown kidnap her. It seems *someone* is trying to revive the Red Room, and they are willing to destroy the girl's life in order to do it. This will not stand.

( Here, the core theme is simpler: "Do you think you've seen the Black Widow angry? No, you have not." )

 

[Mike5575]

Just what the thread title states...

Should there exist a Black Widow solo film sometime in the future (which there likely will not be, but we can all use our imagination), how would you write the plot? What villains would you include? Any appearances from other major heroes in the MCU?

Pitch your story ideas for a Black Widow solo!

Use my IMAGINATION? THANK YOU!

My Black Widow movie pitch:

Black Widow: No Merchandise

After Infinity War Natasha gains powers from the reality stone. She now has the ability to break the 4th wall. Nat finds out that in our world, There's not nearly as much black Widow merchandise as their should be. Nat is pissed. She starts up her own team with Hawkeye and Mockingbird. They invade Marvel and Disney corporate headquarters to force Marvel/Disney to comply with Natasha's demands.

Nat threatens Marvel CCO Joe Quesada at gunpoint. He eventually concedes and signs the paperwork authorizing millions of dollars of Black Widow merch. for the year. Natasha smiles and knocks him out. "Thanks, Quesada." Natasha says slyly as she leaves the room. She breaks Issac Pearlmutter's arm for not giving her a movie. He can't take it anymore and bottom lines the paperwork as well. Bobbi and Clint had been covering Nat's back, choking out Marvel employees and interrogating auditors and sales reps. Now, all that's left is Disney's Alan Horn. Clint triggers the fire alarm, evacuating the rest of the employees. Nat, Clint, and Bobbi all walk out in slow motion with the offices of Marvel Entertainment burning behind them. They've won a great victory , but it is far from over as they set their sights on Disney...

THE END.

Please feel free to let me know if I've gone to far...

 

[Silvermoth]

I would get Marjorie Liu to write the script based on her run and adapt that.

Then I would become a millionaire and live in a giant castle from the huge profits the movie would make

 

[I Am The Knight]

Use my IMAGINATION? THANK YOU!

My Black Widow movie pitch:

Black Widow: No Merchandise

After Infinity War Natasha gains powers from the reality stone. She now has the ability to break the 4th wall. Nat finds out that in our world, There's not nearly as much black Widow merchandise as their should be. Nat is pissed. She starts up her own team with Hawkeye and Mockingbird. They invade Marvel and Disney corporate headquarters to force Marvel/Disney to comply with Natasha's demands.

Nat threatens Marvel CCO Joe Quesada at gunpoint. He eventually concedes and signs the paperwork authorizing millions of dollars of Black Widow merch. for the year. Natasha smiles and knocks him out. "Thanks, Quesada." Natasha says slyly as she leaves the room. She breaks Issac Pearlmutter's arm for not giving her a movie. He can't take it anymore and bottom lines the paperwork as well. Bobbi and Clint had been covering Nat's back, choking out Marvel employees and interrogating auditors and sales reps. Now, all that's left is Disney's Alan Horn. Clint triggers the fire alarm, evacuating the rest of the employees. Nat, Clint, and Bobbi all walk out in slow motion with the offices of Marvel Entertainment burning behind them. They've won a great victory , but it is far from over as they set their sights on Disney...

THE END.

Please feel free to let me know if I've gone to far...

 

[AnneFan]

I would model it on The Bourne Trilogy with the villains being the project that created her.

Good idea. I really hope Wonder Woman pushes Marvel to make a solo Widow outing.

 

[ernesth100]

If they do it'll probably be a prequel.

 

[Mike5575]

Good idea. I really hope Wonder Woman pushes Marvel to make a solo Widow outing.

Well, Marvel is making a female superhero movie. It's called Captain Marvel. Wasp will also be costarring in the Ant-Man sequel. Black Widow already has a strong enough screen presence. I'd rather Marvel make a movie centered around a brand new superheroine and only go back to Black Widow if they run out of options.

 

[DrCosmic]

Black Widow: No Merchandise

You win the thread, obviously.

( Here, the core theme is simpler: "Do you think you've seen the Black Widow angry? No, you have not." )

That's pretty frikking awesome.

I would model it on The Bourne Trilogy with the villains being the project that created her.

This seems simplest, and cleanest, I'd also think along these lines.

------

I also dislike the immortal Natasha, and I'd eschew it here. It doesn't help make her character better, but actually devalues her incredible skills, and also makes it really weird that a spy with 70 years of experience still plays third fiddle to spy with 30 years of experience like Nick Fury.

Black Widow

Basically, the first movie would be a dive back into the Red Room, really exploring what that is as a KGB throwback, and a lot of the film would revolve around The Winter Guard, who would be almost obvious pastiches of the Avengers. Red Guardian is Captain America. Crimson Dynamo is Iron Man. Ursa Major is Hulk/Thor-ish. Darkstar is Scarlet Witch-ish. As a whole, her break away from the Winter Guard, as told through flashbacks would be used to push the story theme of her being a separate entity from the rest of the Avengers, even though, up to this point, she has been largely framed as an Avengers supporting character. Her defeat of the Winter Guard as a whole will cement and resolve precisely what her contribution to the Avengers is and why she's 'on their level' sans powers. Essentially, Black Widow as 'the Batman' of the team, as opposed to Hawkeye 'the heart' and Cap being the paragon archetype.

In addition to this, each member is a different aspect of her story, Red Guardian is her ex-husband, and the current head of the Red Room, so there's lots of history and emotional drama there. Darkstar, the young girl with Darkforce Powers, can act as the locus for Natasha's maternity, so to speak. Not that it's necessary, but when I look at Rue and Katniss, or Newt and Ripley or John and Sarah Connor, it's an angle that works for the best and most successful female character, and here, with the object of her protection, the girl she's trying to save from the Red Room being her enemy, it makes the twists that much more delicious, that she also works as a dark mirror, or reminder of Natasha's past. Crimson Dynamo plays a sort of old uncle reluctant villain role while Ursa Major is more for comic relief.

The whole thing would play out in spy themes: a little Bourne, a little Bond, a little Mission Impossible. Widow showing that she's so clever by holding onto a plot reveal until the climax of the film. Criss cross the globe ever so slightly, let us show off her being undercover, infiltrating places with nothing but a shoe string and a can of soda. Supporting cast limited, would love to see Hawkeye, Winter Soldier, Daredevil, Rick Jones or Bruce Banner. She basically just needs a male confidant, someone who seems like they can help her, but in actuality very much needs her help.

Black Widow vs Black Widow

A plot that goes to the heart of Natasha's new life played out by Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow. She serves, clearly, as a dark mirror to Natasha about what kind of spy she was supposed to be, at was at one time. She is capable of taking apart the entire Marvel Universe, and Natasha is the only one with the wits and knowledge to stop her. Belova also employs something cool and very Marvel-ous like the Super Adaptoid, bringing another BW vs Avengers type deal, except this time, she can't win, and she finds a way to lose in a way that gets her what she wants. So, more like what happened in the JLU cartoon with Amazo if you can recall those days. Watching Natasha's personal life crumble and how she reacts to that, perhaps interspersed with flashbacks of her old life crumbling brings the character to the roots of what she is, this survivor, by any means necessary. While the first movie was designed to make us what vengeance with her, this movie is more designed to make us want her to be safe and happy as we see what little she has torn away and then watch Belova kick her while she's down. We watch Natasha survive anyway and get the keen sense that she can make it through pretty much anything, and when she comes back, she's going to be wrecking shop..

Black Widow: Nefarious

I feel like someone needs to be doing Count Nefaria, and I feel like Black Widow is as good a place to start as any, with Nefaria leading the Zodiac and the Maggie and Black Widow infiltrating all that, becoming close to Nefaria only to be found out and things going haywire from there, with lots of betrayal and intrigue and really f'ed up relationships everywhere you look. That's where we'd cement that Natasha really is that smart enough to coast through impossible situations on the skin of her teeth, and that she really does want a simpler happier life that she believes she can't have. Perhaps stuff we already knew, but we wind these things into a satisfying conclusion, not unlike what Iron Man 3 did with Tony's "You know Who I am" "I am Iron Man" refrains.

 

[Taarna]

Just what the thread title states...

Should there exist a Black Widow solo film sometime in the future (which there likely will not be, but we can all use our imagination), how would you write the plot? What villains would you include? Any appearances from other major heroes in the MCU?

Pitch your story ideas for a Black Widow solo!

Widow as a double agent with Sheild and Hydra!

I'd throw in a steamy chick fight with Black Lotus. And let's have a Bruce Banner cameo and tie-ins with some other Marvel Movies. Lots of subplots would be needed.

Not sure how well it would do as a movie. I do think she should kill the a lead male villain after having relationships with him in a means to justify the ends, scenario, just like a real black widow.

 

[gildedmuse]

Basically, the first movie would be a dive back into the Red Room, really exploring what that is as a KGB throwback, and a lot of the film would revolve around The Winter Guard, who would be almost obvious pastiches of the Avengers. Red Guardian is Captain America. Crimson Dynamo is Iron Man. Ursa Major is Hulk/Thor-ish. Darkstar is Scarlet Witch-ish. As a whole, her break away from the Winter Guard, as told through flashbacks would be used to push the story theme of her being a separate entity from the rest of the Avengers, even though, up to this point, she has been largely framed as an Avengers supporting character. Her defeat of the Winter Guard as a whole will cement and resolve precisely what her contribution to the Avengers is and why she's 'on their level' sans powers. Essentially, Black Widow as 'the Batman' of the team, as opposed to Hawkeye 'the heart' and Cap being the paragon archetype.

In addition to this, each member is a different aspect of her story, Red Guardian is her ex-husband, and the current head of the Red Room, so there's lots of history and emotional drama there. Darkstar, the young girl with Darkforce Powers, can act as the locus for Natasha's maternity, so to speak. Not that it's necessary, but when I look at Rue and Katniss, or Newt and Ripley or John and Sarah Connor, it's an angle that works for the best and most successful female character, and here, with the object of her protection, the girl she's trying to save from the Red Room being her enemy, it makes the twists that much more delicious, that she also works as a dark mirror, or reminder of Natasha's past. Crimson Dynamo plays a sort of old uncle reluctant villain role while Ursa Major is more for comic relief.

The whole thing would play out in spy themes: a little Bourne, a little Bond, a little Mission Impossible. Widow showing that she's so clever by holding onto a plot reveal until the climax of the film. Criss cross the globe ever so slightly, let us show off her being undercover, infiltrating places with nothing but a shoe string and a can of soda. Supporting cast limited, would love to see Hawkeye, Winter Soldier, Daredevil, Rick Jones or Bruce Banner. She basically just needs a male confidant, someone who seems like they can help her, but in actuality very much needs her help.

I don't have any original ideas to add, I just want to say that I think this would make for a great study of Black Widow's character. I love the idea of seeing Natasha interact with various people from her past since a lot of times we the audience expect that people from the past will have more of an understanding of the "original" Natasha, and having her interact with multiple personalities we can see various aspects of Natasha from back then. Plus it could tie back to the Winter Solider/AoU of identity and Natasha's ability to be whatever a person needs to see her sort of subtle change who she is around each individual. And while, yeah, obviously not every female character has to have or show maternal instinct it fits with the Nat we saw in AoU and it would be nice to see her with another female character. We really haven't seen Nat have a relationship with anyone on screen other than her male coworkers.


Also, in terms of Merch I bought two pairs of Black Widow socks the other day just because I thought to myself hey, how often do you see Black Widow stuff?

 

[thegameq]

A Black Widow movie should be a combination of Salt, The Professional and Mission Impossible.

 

[Dasher10]

Simple. Make it a spy film that's significantly more grounded than other MCU films. Think along the lines of 24 or the Bourne series.

 

[meanmc]

I would not do it!
I think, it is to late to tell a prequel!
And the only possibility i see for her is a movie with "a search for her past".

But if, i would do a movie with her and Winter Soldier. A spy movie, 70s style.

Someone from the past wants to kill her, because she could tell some secrets about one russian organisation or something. And now the russians are coming to kill her.
Winter Soldier is involved.

But - i think, it is too late for a Black Widow movie. The MCU goes in some new directions.
There are so many new heroes coming (Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Inhumans). Also lots of women (Wasp, Captain Marvel, Medusa, Scarlet Witch is already here) too.
There will be some sequels...
I think there is no room for a Black Widow movie.

However, Johannson is a big movie star - she could lead a "Black Widow" movie, no doubt!

 

[Jammat]

Simple. Make it a spy film that's significantly more grounded than other MCU films. Think along the lines of 24 or the Bourne series.

My biggest disappointment with Marvel is that it will take 20 movies and over 10 years before a female led film gets released, especially as they had a star with the calibre of Johansson from the third film.

The above treatment would be great, very different from all the other Marvel franchises and a popular genre. Use characters that are shades of grey rather than out and out heroes and villains, so you are never sure who is working with who.

 

[DrCosmic]

I don't have any original ideas to add, I just want to say that I think this would make for a great study of Black Widow's character. I love the idea of seeing Natasha interact with various people from her past since a lot of times we the audience expect that people from the past will have more of an understanding of the "original" Natasha, and having her interact with multiple personalities we can see various aspects of Natasha from back then. Plus it could tie back to the Winter Solider/AoU of identity and Natasha's ability to be whatever a person needs to see her sort of subtle change who she is around each individual. And while, yeah, obviously not every female character has to have or show maternal instinct it fits with the Nat we saw in AoU and it would be nice to see her with another female character. We really haven't seen Nat have a relationship with anyone on screen other than her male coworkers.


Also, in terms of Merch I bought two pairs of Black Widow socks the other day just because I thought to myself hey, how often do you see Black Widow stuff?

You really really don't. Even if you go hunting online it's not much. I would bypass the whole gender ghetto thing by making B-dubs into a line of costume-based clothing and accessories. Basically take costume t-shirts to their logical extreme. Sure, throw in a few Black Widow figures in the Barbie aisle, and perhaps sneak a black widow figure into the guy's toy aisle with ambiguous packaging or something, but come from a weird angle on the marketing to bypass some of that resistance.

 

[Dasher10]

My biggest disappointment with Marvel is that it will take 20 movies and over 10 years before a female led film gets released, especially as they had a star with the calibre of Johansson from the third film.

The above treatment would be great, very different from all the other Marvel franchises and a popular genre. Use characters that are shades of grey rather than out and out heroes and villains, so you are never sure who is working with who.

I'd also argue that she needs a film or miniseries since her longest run was all of 20 issues. For the most part, she's just had OGNs and 3-12 issue runs so a TV series on ABC or Netflix would be pointless since they'd just run out of material.

And my choice of villain would be Kestrel or Yelena Belova.

 

[Random490]

I never really felt like we needed a Black Widow movie, only because her character probably has the most development on any character in the MCU that doesn't have a solo film. And because Marvel wants to introduce new characters with their next films. Since they only make so many films a year it's tougher to justify giving a slot to a character when she already has a good amount of screen time.

That being I would love to see a Black Widow film. Without knowing where she'll be after Civil War I think the best and most obvious setting would be at the end of her career with the KGB, defection and joining SHIELD.

The First act of the film starts with Nat assassinating a key figure, pushing her to the top of SHIELD's most wanted. We would see hints at her displeasure with her assignments. Deep down she see envies the life of a normal person, but knows that can never happen; with all of the conditioning the red room did to her, she feels even if she tried she would just be pretending. The films would also follow the SHIELD team sent to take her down, which consists of Hawkeye, Coulson, Maria Hill, and a few new faces.

In the second act Nat gets a mission that crosses the line even for her. There would be massive civilian casualties including families and that is unacceptable for her. She resolves herself to botch the mission and disappear. During the mission she successfully botches it despite intervention from SHIELD. Here, Hawkeye gets the first hint she's not evil. From this point the film takes a Bourne Identity vibe with Nat being on the run from both KGB and SHIELD which culminates in a three way showdown between Nat, Hawkeye, and another Black Widow agent. It ends with Nat saving a civilian and get pinned between debris. As the BW agent is about to kill Nat Hawkeye takes her down, then takes aim at Nat. She accepts her fate but Clint withdraws he bow and removes the debris. He says he's willing to bet that she's not as bad as she seems. She could run and with her skills probably get away. But if she wants to stop running and makes things right, to turn herself into SHIELD and he'll help her. Then Clint just walks away.

Final act, Nat is faced with tough call can she trust and agency whose been her enemy her entire life? While Fury chews our Clint they get word that the Black Widow has turned herself in. She gets interrogated by none other than Peggy Carter. Who Fury has brought in due her experience with Red Room operatives. After wards Fury refers to Carter as Director to which she replies, "Here I though I was the one with memory troubles. I'm retired, Nick. You're director now." and reminds Fury that while trusting no one is a good rule for an agent as director he has to be willing to have faith in your agents, the trick is being able to spot the trustworthy ones when you see it. Nat gives them everything she knows about the Red Room and the Black Widow program. Against his better judgement Fury green lights an op for Nat and Clint to take down the Red Room command, detaining the program leaders, and getting all the intel on the programs past and current operations. The films ends with Nat being made an official Agent of SHIELD with her and Clint going onto their next mission, with Clint remarking that his wife would like to have her over for dinner. The first hint that she can have a, somewhat, normal life.

So that's my idea a very basic A-to-B film exploring her change from assassin to agent.

 

[Yowza]

I think a TV miniseries on a premium cable or streaming network would've been the best option about 4 years ago to better connect the movie and TV properties together. It doesn't seem like that's been the agenda though. That being said, I think the time to make a movie solo film starring Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow has passed. It's just my opinion but I think things would get too convoluted at this point to make a Black Widow film in phase 3. Phase 4 on the other hand will be a new beginning with new heroes so that probably wouldn't work either at least as a feature film (perhaps a good point to make a mini series though at least).

An alternative idea is an independent movie. This would never happen with Marvel set on owning all the rights to their characters, but if Black Widow were optioned by an outside studio, I think it would work better to make a film geared towards a niche audience. I think an R-Rated version (sort of taking off the premise of Agent Carter Season 1) would work best at least as far as making an interesting movie. I don't know really the specifics of what I'd include but narratively speaking I'd have the story follow through the villain Yelena Belova's perspective while the legendary age defying Natasha Romanoff (taking a queu from a comic book retcon storyline on the Infinity Formula only with a more science based explanation involving more than just taking a dosage of something) will be introduced later in the film in a more antagonistic sense (even though they're the protagonist). An arctic isolated setting seems appropriate as well for most of the film to take place in (keeps the budget low and focuses more on characters). I would also include the concept of the Black Widow training program from Agent Carter Season 1 (not directly connected to the TV show but borrowing the idea). The story would include snippets from post-1940's Russia to the abrupt dissolution of the cold war (and displacement of Yelena Belova) to a modern day encounter between the 2 spies. Not sure what else. Overall, I just think an arctic visual, putting the protagonist into a 3rd person vantage point to make the conflict more involved, increased violence, more of a psychological dark thriller combined with the action would be interesting.