'Black Widow': Who dies in the Scarlett Johansson flick? Here's a wild theory

The Red Guardian was introduced in Avengers #43 in August 1967
UPDATED JUL 9, 2021
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, David Harbour as the Red Guardian and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in 'Black Widow' (Marvel Studios)
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, David Harbour as the Red Guardian and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in 'Black Widow' (Marvel Studios)

'Black Widow' is all set to release on Disney+ in less than a few hours from now and adding to the suspense are some wild theories. One of the major speculations is the 'Who dies in the movie?" and we feel it might be David Harbour's Red Guardian. 

For those unaware, the Red Guardian mantle has been taken up by multiple people in the comics but from the movie's perspective, the Red in focus is Alexi Shostakov. The character was introduced in Avengers #43 in August 1967. Shoskatov's history is rather tragic as he was orphaned during WWII and rescued by a Soviet officer, Vasily Karpov. 

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While the Red Guardian was not necessarily one of the most important characters, he was Russia's version of Captain America. They even stuck to the blueprint that was used to create the star-spangled superhero sans the super serum. It also makes sense to bring a Russian hero into the mix as he plays an integral role in Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson) life. 'Black Widow' is probably the last connection to the OG Avengers and it is important that the character's arc is completely rounded off. This means presenting characters who have played their part in making Romanoff who she is.

David Harbour as The Red Guardian (Marvel Studios)

In a way, it will be fitting if the Red Guardian is the one to kick the bucket in the film. Like Steve Rogers, he is a man out of time and perhaps helping Romanoff in taking down the Taskmaster would be his final mission. We can speculate that the Taskmaster could be the second big casualty (or not), but for now, the likeliest candidate to die is Alexei. How he dies remains to be seen.



 


The official synopsis of 'Black Widow' reads: "Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger."

'Black Widow’ releases Friday, July 9 on Disney+  Premier Access.
 

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