Marvel has recently released the new Black Widow trailer which fans are extremely excited about. But the question is, why did it take so long to give the only female original Avenger her own movie? And why are they giving it to us after (spoiler)…the characters already died.

Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, made her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2010 co-starring with Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 2. The only woman in the original six Avengers, she portrayed a smart, strong and beautiful role that inspired women and young girls everywhere. Still, she didn’t get the attention she so deserved until 11 years later. 

The Black Widow trailer was released  back in 2020 but the release date ended up being pushed to July of 2021 due to COVID-19. Alongside Johanson, the movie stars popular actors such as Florence Pugh and David Harbour. The movie is set to take place between the films Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It will take a deeper dive into who the character is and where she comes from. Following her from when she was given to the KGB and groomed to be it’s ultimate operative to present day New York where she is a freelance operative. Through this movie we hope to see Black Widow’s true character that, even through all these years, we haven’t seen before.

Through the movies the character was outstandingly performed by Scarlette Johanson but for some reason never got an ounce of her own storyline. Many can say “there’s just so many characters it’s hard to give each one their own film,” and that makes sense until you look at her original costars. Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downy Jr, who have each had three solo films along with Hemsworth’s fourth coming out early 2022. The problem isn’t the extensive amount of superheroes there are nor Johanson’s acting ability (which many like to criticize), the problem is most obviously sexism and prejudice many have against strong female superheroes or just strong females in general.

It seemed to the media only saw the character as the sexy, sassy female presence throughout the movies. This was made clear as Johanson was asked many sexist and inappropriate questions throughout the years of press being called names like “whore” and “slut”. As her co stars were asked  about the actual movie and character they were portraying, Johanson seemed to be excessively asked questions about her body and her costume. The repeated misogyny towards the actress reflects the vast amount of sexism there is not only in the MCU but also hollywood. 

In 2015 a leaked Sony email suggested that Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter questioned the success of female-led superhero films right before the company announced the upcoming Captain Marvel movie, female-led. In the email Perlmutter listed examples of “failed” female-led superhero movies. Though the context is not explained, this situation did highlight the companies overall uncertainty and doubt in female superheroes. It also draws attention to the overall misogyny against female characters not just with Black Widow. We see this with characters like Captain Marvel. The fandom essentially rejected the superhero for being a strong confident woman. Many say it’s for other reasons but it’s quite obvious just because she’s stronger than their treasured male leading characters. 

This is unacceptable and truthfully disgusting as these female characters deserve so much more than they’ve gotten. Female characters in the MCU are inspiring and important characters to see on screen. It’s not often that strong women are portrayed in film and when they are they seem to be rejected. The new Black Widow film has been a long time coming and will hopefully take a step into a greater and more open industry.