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(but really Hydra) facility called the North Institute.
WHIH25
The opening credits include a news broadcast about Soviet espionage in Ohio.
WHIH broadcasts have appeared inThe Incredible Hulk,Iron Man2, and pretty much every Marvel TV show.
She certainly doesnt have much trouble avoiding him, though.
The Sokovia Accords
Ross is after Natasha for two reasons.
Its just Natasha and Steve Rogers who are on the run.
This is interesting because it actually means thatBlack Widowtakes placeduringthe events ofCivil Warrather than simply after it.
Yelena Belova
Yelena (Florence Pugh) made her comics debut in 1999, first appearing inInhumansNo.
She too has held the mantle of Black Widow.
First appearing in 1980sThe AvengersNo.
When we first meet the MCUs Taskmaster, shes watching footage of Hawkeye and Black Panthers fight fromCivil War.
The character first appeared in 1990sMarvel Graphic NovelNo.
57 and has since carved out a niche for himself as a highly skilled freelance secret agent.
Theres no relation between the movie versions of the characters.
Fanny Longbottom
One of the false identities that Mason gives Nat is Fanny Longbottom.
Tragically, this mildly funny name is not a deep-cut reference to some obscure Bronze Age comics character.
However, Yelenas dog in the post-credits scene is named Fanny.
She sports the new do at the very end ofBlack Widow.
Natasha does it later in the movie, as does Yelena, to her own dismay.
Red Guardian
The Soviet Unions answer to Captain America made his debut in 1967sThe AvengersNo.
There have been five other Red Guardians over the years, but Alexei is clearly the main one.
Russian Prison
When we meet him, Red Guardian is locked in a Russian prison.
It isnot the first timethat David Harbour has found himself in such an institution.
In the comics, Red Guardian and Captain America have battled, including a notable encounter inAvengersNos.
4344 in 1967, but theres no real comics equivalent to the 83 or 84 fight the movie references.
His Mutant ability is that he can, uh, transform into a big bear.
Is this the MCU introducing Mutants and X-Men into continuity?
(Well, his KARL and MARX knuckle tats are not at all subtle.)
He has a neck tattoo of Rachel Weiszs face with her characters name, Melina, written underneath.
Yelenas quips,which are partially credited to Pugh, are a fairly explicit pushback to theAge of Ultronmoment.
This is the same phrasing Loki uses in theAvengersscene where he mentions Dreykovs daughter.
She made her debut in 1983sMarvel FanfareNo.
If Vankos name sounds familiar, its because his son Ivan Vanko appeared inIron Man 2as the villain Whiplash.
This isnt the first time weve seen that vest and its many, many pockets.
Natasha is wearing the vest when we see her inInfinity War, which takes place afterBlack Widow.
Shes a somewhat dicey recruiter, and here shes giving Yelena a job assassinating Hawkeye.
Guess well see how this shakes out in the Disney+Hawkeyeseries, in which Pugh is set to appear.
