David Harbour explains Red Guardian’s part in Black Widow movie

In Black Widow, David Harbour stars as Red Guardian, Soviet Captain America and Natasha Romanoff’s surrogate dad. He talks details:

Boy oh boy, it feels like I’ve been waiting years to see Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz, and David Harbour in Marvel’s Black Widow. That’s probably because I have! I’ve been hoping to see Natasha Romanoff get her own film ever since we first met the character in Iron Man 2, but the folks over at Marvel decided to take their sweet time with it. I was over the moon when it was announced that Scarlett Johansson would reprise her iconic role in Black Widow. The film was initially scheduled to premiere in May 2020, but it’s been delayed several times due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As reported by ComicBook.com, some of your curiosity about the upcoming film can be satiated by reading Black Widow: The Official Movie Special Book. Featuring interviews with the cast and behind-the-scenes facts about the movie, you can buy the book here.

In the film, Stranger Things actor David Harbour (Sheriff Hopper) will play Alexei Shostakov, also known as Red Guardian, the Soviet version of Captain America. In an excerpt from the Black Widow book, David Harbour revealed more about his character’s relationship with Natasha Romanoff. “He grew up in the Soviet Union during the arms race,” Harbour said. “He was a soldier. He was chosen for this program as the Americans were developing weapons and, of course, Captain America. The Russians were slow to catch up, but they wanted to fight back with their own version of Captain America. He was shot up with a super-strength serum and trained in a certain way. But he didn’t become as famous as Captain America – nobody really knows who he is.”

"The connection to him and Black Widow is that they were set up as a spy family in America in the ’90s. So, Rachel Weisz’s Melina, was sort of the mom, Alexei was the dad, and Natasha and Yelena [Florence Pugh] were their kids. We see that in the beginning of the movie, and they sort of function as a family. They knew each other from long ago and then they lost touch for almost twenty years. He took her from the Red Room and also put her back into the Red Room because he believed in this cause."

That faux family set up reminds me of the plot of The Americans. The series stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as two Russian agents posing as a typical American couple during the Cold War. They even have kids together to make their cover story more believable! That show is incredible and I’m super excited to see how a similar “family” structure affected Natasha. I’m hoping that Black Widow gives fans an even better insight into her character. With any luck, the events of Black Widow will give Natasha’s life more context and depth, making her sacrifice in Avengers: Endgame all the more poignant.

Thanks to David Harbour, now I’m more excited than ever to see the movie!

Right now, Black Widow is scheduled to premiere on May 7, 2021. Let’s hope it stays that way…because it might not:

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