Black Widow was supposed to have hit theaters weeks ago. With Phase 3 of the MCU and The Infinity Saga officially behind us, we’ve all had almost a year to process our feelings, and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to have my heart broken again. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for the next phase of the MCU to kick off…Black Widow is now slated for a November release. Probably renders this little introduction to the Red Guardian character a little premature, but hey – I’m cracking my knuckles, itching, to get back to creating some MCU content. So, I’m gonna do me – that’s the whole reason I started this website to begin with. *shrugs*
An Intro to the Red Guardian
The Red Guardian character first appeared in The Avengers #43, all the way back in 1967. The easiest way to understand the character if you’re not too familiar with it already is that it’s practically the Soviet Union’s version of Captain America. I, however, think that’s an oversimplification. While several people have donned the moniker, we’re specifically going to be talking about Alexei Shostakov, as that’s the version David Harbour plays in Black Widow.
Shostakov is one of the more complex characters in Captain America lore. He’s tied to Black Widow in that he was the Black Widow’s husband. Obviously, that’s not going to be the case in the movie. Harbour’s character looks to be some sort of father figure, if not Black Widow’s literal father. He’s kind of an asshole – but he operated under a certain moral code. He wasn’t really a bad guy. Wasn’t really a good guy either. He had a healthy amount of respect for Cap, and actually died sacrificing himself so that Captain America and The Avengers could escape the base of an evil communist general in China.
As for how he became the Red Guardian, Shostakov’s death was faked by the KGB. Poor Black Widow – he never actually died. Instead, he entered a training program to become the Red Guardian. Shostakov didn’t have any real super powers – he was a famous pilot, and skilled hand-to-hand combatant (aren’t they all?). Instead of a shield, he had a belt buckle that he could throw. Thanks to the wonders of magnetism, it would return to the belt. I guess that’s one way to differentiate him from Captain America.
It’s interesting that Marvel elected to introduce this character into the MCU – he’s never really been the central figure or the big bad in a story, but one of the things that has been done so well in the MCU is the handling of complex characters such as this one. Sometimes, they operate in a bit of a gray area – look at Loki, Winter Soldier, Nebula, and Yondu as only a few examples of this. I have no doubt that this will be done well, and I have no doubt that Harbour is the man for the job.
Harbour is electric as Hopper in Stranger Things. Tack on a Russian accent to go with that sort of sarcastic charisma, and you’ve got gold. We’ll sweep that whole Hellboy remake under the rug and pretend like it never happened. I don’t want to burst any bubbles, but I wouldn’t expect him to be a recurring character. This looks like the perfect opportunity to tell a good story, get us to love a character, and then rip our hearts out. Just a hunch (or wild speculation) – that’s all.
Nonetheless, the complex Red Guardian figures to be a show stealer once Black Widow hits the screen in November.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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