Black Widow Star David Harbour Reveals Red Guardian’s Complicated Feelings

The secrets of the Marvel Cinematic Universe lie in the past, as their next two movies will explore the hidden histories that fans have yet to see unfold on the big screen. While Eternals will focus on this aspect on a cosmic scale, Natasha Romanoff will finally get the spotlight in her own film Black Widow. This movie will be set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, though there will probably be a large chunk set before she joins SHIELD and the Avengers. Natasha will also be aided by Alexei Shostakov AKA the Red Guardian, the Russian counterpart to Captain America.

This character will be played by David Harbour, who recently opened up about the complex nature of his character during an interview with Variety.

“In the Cold War, the Americans developed nuclear weapons, the Russians developed nuclear weapons. And then the Americans developed Captain America and in response, in retaliation, the Soviets developed the Red Guardian. So in that way, he’s a foil,” Harbour explained. “He has very complicated feelings about this particular thing. But the Soviet Union fell and a lot of things went down with him in particular, and now he’s in a different place in his life.“

It doesn’t sound like Marvel Studios will be using a Russian soldier as a typical one-dimensional villain, much like we saw in Harbour’s last appearance in Stranger Things 3, but will instead use nuance to explore the fall of one empire and the rise of another.

“It’s a very interesting character, you get to see all of this,” Harbour added. “I don’t want to give too much away, but I’ll say that he seemed to me… a certain way, and then I was so surprised that these other things that come out in this character, which is always how it works in these movies. His flaws and who he is is so unique and wonderful, the writing is extraordinary.”

There are still a lot of questions surrounding Black Widow, especially when it comes to a rumored cameo featuring Robert Downey Jr. himself. And while it’s possible that Iron Man could make an appearance in the new movie, expect Marvel Studios to keep the focus on these new heroes that have yet to make an impact on the MCU.

Black Widow premieres in theaters on May 1, 2020.