Possible Plots: Black Widow

Time for another new segment. Well, not a new segment, just one I haven’t done in a while. Remember my Wolverine Legacy post from about a year ago? No? Then read it and come back. … Caught up? Great. For those who still haven’t read it, that post and this one are dedicated to creating a possible story for a future film to follow. I have a new name for this series of posts, Possible Plots. I’ll save these for whenever I need to really stretch my writing muscles. Or if I get a really crazy awesome idea. Like with today’s focus, Black Widow.

Scarlett Johansson has proven to be
an amazing Black Widow.

You know, I do find it pretty weird that Marvel and Disney seem so reluctant to make a superhero movie centered on a woman. We’re talking about Marvel, a company that has tried (especially in the last few years) to expand the cast of female superheroes (Captain Marvel, New Thor, Ms. Marvel, X-23 for a few examples) and Disney, a company that owes a huge amount of its success to the Princess movies targeted at females. Not to say men don’t enjoy Frozen, Cinderella, Tangled, and the rest, but yeah, the movies do seem to be geared towards the ladies. Sure, they do have Captain Marvel on the schedule, but that’s not until 2018 and as much as I enjoy Captain Carol Danvers, she’s not the one that so many fans are all but demanding to see. Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow, is the one that many a Marvel fan says needs a feature film of her own. Here’s my take on a possible plot for a Black Widow film. The same rules apply as for my “Doing it Better” segments, things like licensing, time, budget and so on don’t matter, it’s all about making an excellent flic. Let’s get to it.

Some background, I fit this film in sometime after Captain America 3. The Superhero Civil War has ended, and while stuff is getting back to normal, other things are still recovering. Particularly the friendship between Captain America and Iron-Man. Yes, I expect Captain America to survive the Civil War. Why? Because I love Cap, that’s why. While the main men of Marvel are still feuding, Black Widow is given an assignment by Nick Fury. Fury has been keeping an eye on things in the criminal underworld and has noticed a few disturbing trends. 1.) Several assassinations of important men and women in the global community, we’ll say an ambassador from Wakanda, a high ranking Stark Industries scientist, and a SHIELD agent. There can be more, but those would be the highlights. 2.) A mass brake out from the secret prison, the Vault. We’re talking HYDRA Agents, the surviving members of AIM from Iron-Man 3, the scientists on the Iron Monger project from the original Iron-Man, and Justin Hammer from Iron-Man 2. And 3.) An increase in HYDRA activity worldwide. If you’re asking why I’m assuming HYDRA is still a thing in the Marvel Movie Universe, that Nick Fury knows about it, and is letting them still be at thing, I do have a few reasons. HYDRA is a spy organization, which by definition is hard to permanently remove. They’ve had decades to set up facilities while SHIELD has been largely unware of their activities. And, think about the character of Nick Fury, would he be the sort to A.) Try to destroy HYDRA knowing full well they’ll just go underground and appear at a later date, or B.) Let them remain active while monitoring their activates? Yeah, I thought so.

The other Hawkeye. Both good with a bow
And both rock the Purple. What's not to like?

More disturbing, the aforementioned assassinations bear a striking resemblance to Black Widow’s style of killing back when she was an agent of the Red Room. Rather than assume Ms. Romanov is doing some killing on the side, Fury assumes another Widow might be active. For those who might not know, I’m talking about the second Black Widow, Yelena Belova. I’ll go into more detail in a later post, but basically she’s an evil Black Widow. Cue flashback to Natasha and Yelena being trained in the Red Room. I’m thinking something psychologically damaging, like watching failing students being poisoned so the other students can see the effects. Messed up, right? Back to the main plot, Black Widow’s mission, if she chooses to accept it, is to infiltrate the known HYDRA base and figure out what the heck is going on. She accepts, obviously, but she’s going to need a little back up. While braking into a facility is a cake walk for Black Widow by this point, Fury thinks that a little cover is necessary, given how dangerous a potential threat this whole thing could be. But, who? Captain America, Iron-Man, Hulk and Thor are all a little too flashy for undercover work. The only viable option from the original team is Hawkeye, but he’s either retired or on sabbatical after the events of Age of Ultron. There’s only one option, adding a new character. But who? For me, the clear choice is none other than Hawkeye… The other one.

Nick Fury introduces Black Widow to Kate Bishop, a new SHIELD Special Agent. Kate does a crazy impossible trick shot with a bow and arrows before Fury makes the comment that “She’s partial to the codename Hawkeye.” I imagine Widow smirking and making a crack like, “We’ll see if she’s up to it.” So, yeah, we’re going to avoid the “hate the new guy” cliché for this one. While I doubt that Black Widow would be 100% on board with a “new” Hawkeye, the character I’ve been presented with in previous films strikes me as someone who’d try something new before deciding she hates it. Which is exactly what she does. Black Widow and probation Hawkeye sneak in to the HYDRA base and use that magic face mesh from Winter Soldier (Not everyone forgot about that Deus Ex)  to pose as HYDRA new recruits. We get to see some of HYDRA’s “training” methods, and by that I mean things they do to ensure that their soldiers and scientists are loyal. It’s an evil pseudo-Nazi group, I can’t imagine every single person working for them is doing it willingly. Heck, I’d hazard a guess that more than half would need some brainwashing before they’d be willing to click their boots together and shout “Hail HYDRA.” I’m thinking things that border on insane torture like sleep deprivation, chemical treatments, and such to make them compliant. Another Flashback to Black Widow’s training in the Red Room, and maybe an offhand remark about “The more things change” before they continue.

Yelena Belova, the other Black Widow.
I seem to be seeing a lot of "others"
in this one.

They scope out the place over a few days, bonding and seeing the depravities of HYDRA, before slipping into the HYDRA Facility's computer database. We see our two superheroes disable…let’s say five guards and two techs before getting to work. While skimming through files, Black Widow learns that the various baddies of the Marvel Verse have created their own most wanted list of the various heroes. We could see guys like the Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Black Panther as “Possible Problems;” Black Widow, War Machine, and Hawkeye as “Known Problems;” and Hulk and Thor as “Major Problems.” She’d then note that Captain America and Iron-Man are both listed as “Removal Pending.” Also, if Captain America 3 doesn’t tie up the loose end, Black Widow should also note a file marked “Possible Winter Soldier locations” which she downloads with the other bad guy info. Just before Yelena arrives. The two Widows will duke it out while Probie Hawkeye is told to run with the Data. Some crazy fighting goes down, but both our super spies get captured and brought before HYDRA’s current leader, Arnim Zola.

Dr. Zola would then explain how he survived the bombing of his old computer body back in Winter Soldier. I’m thinking something like “Did you really think a man of my genius would remained locked in a bunker for decades? No, what you and the Captain destroyed was my original form, the first attempt at Arnim Zola’s immortality. This,” gestures at his purple and orange robot body with his face displayed on the torso, “is the new and improved Arnim Zola. The Immortal Master of HYDRA!” Or something similar. He gives one of the usual BS reasons why he didn’t kill the two spies, I’m split between “Wanting to watch them suffer” and “Wanting to use them in a creepy experiment.” Black Widow does her crazy interrogation powers (as seen in her discussion with Loki in The Avengers) to figure out Zola’s plan before she and Probie Hawkeye make their daring escape.

Now, you’re probably asking yourself what is the fiendish master plan here. What could HYDRA do to take out both Captain America and Iron-Man? I think you’re going to love this. Using the combined scientific insight of all the evil eggheads I mentioned earlier, HYDRA, AIM and Justin Hammer have devised their own stealthy ARC reactor and Repulsor. Their design barely gives off any light, and the Repulsor itself can flip up into the sleeve of who’s ever wearing it. Their plan, Yelena gets in close using HYDRA’s version of the face changing mesh to pose as Natasha. She disables Tony with some sort of powerful, mind bending toxin, just as her team starts tampering with the cameras. Its AIM and HYDRA, I’m sure together these two could even overcome Tony’s extensive security protocols. Yelena then takes on Tony’s appearance and invites Cap to the Avenger’s tower to talk. Once he arrives, Yelena would then attack, using the element of surprise and years of close quarters’ combat training to remove Cap’s shield and force him near a window, then use the stealth Repulsor to defenestrate him. You’ve seen Avengers Tower, right? Ridiculously high up, no close buildings, and no way to maneuver in the air. Yeah, Even Captain America would have trouble surviving the drop. It’s then a simple matter of quickly putting the stealth Repulsor on Tony, run off with the Shield, and the job is done. Cap dead, Iron-Man implicated in the murder, everyone is pretty bummed, and HYDRA now has their hands on Vibranium. Brilliantly crazy plan, eh?

Not sure if this is more or less creepy
than a green Toby Jones face
on a computer screen...

Of course, Black Widow and Probie Hawkeye arrive just in time to stop said Captain defenestrating, we see another crazy Black Widow vs. Black Widow kung fu fight, and our heroes ultimately save the day. Yelena is put into SHIELD custody, Kate Bishop is acknowledged as the new Hawkeye, Black Widow makes a crack about “always cleaning up after you boys” and all is well. And maybe one last flashback to Black Widow verses original Hawkeye back in the day, to when he convinces her to join SHIELD. Just to tie up that lose end.

So there you have it, my plot for a Black Widow film. Is it perfect? Hardly, but it’s a start. I included Kate Bishop to expand the overall pool of female superheroes in the Marvel Movie Universe, and as a way to set up a Young Avengers (the team Kate is affiliated with) movie somewhere down the line. Furthermore, it Clint Bartlet has hung up his quiver for good, it’s important to set up a replacement. There always needs to be a Hawkeye, much like there always needs to be a Captain America. It’s an important role. Yelena as the evil Black Widow and the final antagonist of the plot just feels right, as it gives us an excuse to see more of Natasha’s past as part of the Red Room, and also a glimpse into what she might have become had she not joined SHIELD. I included Arnim Zola as pretty much a place holder. He’s the only bigwig of HYDRA that I could think up that could technically still be alive despite his apparent death in Captain America 2. We could perhaps replace him for Viper, another bigwig of HYDRA, but that might be putting too many new characters in. Plus, Zola’s role in this story idea is pretty minor, so it might be best to leave him in and save Viper for another film.

Black Widow is an interesting character, one that I could totally see having a major motion picture of her own someday. This movie idea, I think, serves as a decent in medias res story of how Black Widow came to be the character she is today, and how that character is important to the overarching Marvel Universe. While guys like Iron-Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk are perfectly capable of being in the spot light and saving the day, we will always need a character willing to hunt in the shadows. Which I think Black Widow is comfortable with. Next time, Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, Marvel’s resident spellcaster’s first film appearance. 

 http://marvel-movies.wikia.com/wiki/File:BlackWidow_Avengers1.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkeye_%28Kate_Bishop%29#/media/File:Katebishop.png

 http://marvel.wikia.com/Yelena_Belova_%28Earth-616%29

 http://marvel.wikia.com/File:Arnim_Zola_%28Earth-616%29.PNG