With the final Black Widow trailer recently released, why does the idea of improvised family work so well?
The final trailer for Black Widow dropped on Monday morning, raising an interesting point for Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) first onscreen solo adventure – why is the idea of improvised family so important?
Aside from the Guardians of the Galaxy, there is no MCU character to whom the idea is more important.
“Improvised family,” a term I’m using to mean other non-biological humans that are considered family members, has been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe almost since the beginning. It also primarily happens among adults.
This stands in contrast to the traditional nuclear family, represented best in the MCU by Clint Barton’s (Jeremy Renner) wife and kids, or Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) relationship with his daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson/Emma Fuhrmann).
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) is able to be such a good father to his daughter Morgan (Alexandra Rabe) because of learning from his past mistakes, sure, but also from the practice he gained guiding Peter Parker (Tom Holland) through his superhero journey.
Why has the concept been a part of the story from the beginning? Probably because Joss Whedon was one of the key architects in laying the MCU foundation, and it’s one of the hallmarks of a Whedonverse project – just look at the Scooby Gang on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Serenity crew on Firefly.
His brother Jed Whedon and sister-in-law Maurissa Tancharoen were the showrunners of Agents of SHIELD, so it’s no surprise that Phil Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) handpicked band of misfits coalesced into one of the most amazing improvised family units on television this decade.
More from Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Loki season 2 finale does set the stage for Kang Dynasty
- Marvel: (Spoiler) exits Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
- Will Loki air a new bonus episode tonight? (November 16, 2023)
- What If…? season 2 gets premiere date (and there’s a major twist)
- Marvel rumors hint Pedro Pascal has been cast in key Fantastic Four role
But the concept has been around on television far longer than the rise of the Whedons – The Brady Bunch could possibly be considered the prototype, with another early example being GIlligan’s Island. It was further refined by 1990s shows like Friends and Seinfeld, which depicted a group of adults leaning on friendships to get them through life’s events and crises rather than marriages or extended family members.
The entire premise of Full House comes from Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) having his brother-in-law Jesse and best friend Joey move in to help him raise his daughters after his wife died in a car wreck. And in the sequel series Fuller House, this formula is repeated in the next generation after DJ’s husband dies of a heart attack, where Kimmy and Steph move in.
Sometimes this sense of togetherness comes from the after-work hangout, as in Cheers, or from the workplace itself as in The Office and Parks and Recreation.
Of course, one of the earliest ways this improvised family concept was presented to audiences was through JM Barrie’s work in his 1902 play The Admirable Crichton and through the Lost Boys in his 1911 novel Peter Pan.
Black Widow’s improvised family concept is especially important given the history of the Red Room.
The Red Room was the training program given to members of the Black Widow program, a Soviet secret training facility/prison for equipping young girls to be the perfect spies, with seductive charm in equal measure. (Firefly’s recurring villainess Yolanda/Saffron/Bridget would have made a perfect candidate if such a thing existed in the future of the ‘verse.)
The MCU version is mostly shrouded in mystery, though the comics version has quite a long history.
What we do know of the Black Widow program comes from the hints Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) has dropped once in a while, mostly in the Whedon-directed Avengers: Age of Ultron, besides the glimpses viewers see of Dottie Underwood’s (Bridget Regan) past in the first season of ABC’s short-lived Agent Carter series.
While it wasn’t ever stated outright on Agent Carter that Dottie’s training came from the Red Room, as she was connected with a group called Leviathan, it seems very likely that it was a precursor to the Red Room program itself. Besides psychological brainwashing and extensive hand-to-hand combat training in various forms of mixed martial arts styles, candidates were also taught to become highly proficient with knives and firearms.
Ballet was part of the program to learn grace and mental discipline, which brings its own mental tortures, as Natalie Portman’s movie Black Swan highlights.
As part of the training was to avoid emotional attachments, a preteen Dottie was forced to execute her best friend. An orphan, as all recruits were, as an adult she desperately wanted human connection and could come across as a bit naive.
As Nat mentioned to Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in Age of Ultron, Black Widow recruits were sterilized as a graduation procedure, further isolating them from the rest of the world by erasing the potential for the tightest human connection of all, between a mother and child.
Furthermore, the missions – often assassinations – wouldn’t have made normal human contact possible, as the only true coworkers you had might just as easily kill you tomorrow should the mission warrant it. This makes Dottie’s isolation more profound, and explains why SHIELD would have been so eager to bring Nat onto their side decades later.
Given that upbringing and history, if a Black Widow did somehow forge a connection with someone else, that bond would be nearly unbreakable and improvised family would be a foregone conclusion.
So it’s no wonder than Natasha and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) consider each other sisters, and given the nature of close longtime female friendships, they would keep each other updated on a fairly consistent basis over what was happening in their lives.
So the backstory Yelena creates, that Nat is a science teacher whose husband remodels houses, is quite reasonable, especially given that the only romantic relationship we know the MCU version of Nat has had was with Banner (never mind how awkward that storyline was). It’s possible that her longtime friendship with Clint was at one point romantic (a friend and I have argued over this theory for years), and one of his hobbies was home renovation – as their banter throughout Ultron revealed.
As an Avenger, Nat assumed the role of the older sister as a co-leader with Steve Rogers (Chris Evans.). This love for her teammates is shown through teasing, trying to find him a date in The Winter Soldier, and through her Ultron line “I’m always picking up after you guys…” during the motorcycle chase.
On a more serious note, this is shown through showing up at Peggy’s funeral in Civil War after the signing of the Sokovia Accords, and being willing to serve as a sacrifice to earn the Soul Stone in Endgame (which is why she was one of the film’s MVPs).
Though their roles in the film are not quite known just yet, David Harbour’s Alexei and Rachel Weisz’s Melina seem to be parental towards Nat and Yelena in the trailer, which is likely appreciated, as allies in accomplishing the immediate mission, and then on a personal human level.
It will be interesting to see what impact this improvised family will play in the storyline of Black Widow, but it will be exciting to find out.
Black Widow hits theaters on Friday, May 1. Are you looking forward to the 24th MCU film? Let us know in the comments below!