Black Widow Theory Suggests Movie Is Setting up the Dark Avengers

After much anticipation, we now know Black Widow will officially race into theaters next May. The first movie of Marvel’s Phase 4 happens to be a prequel set between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War and one intriguing fan theory suggests the Cate Shortland-helmed film will be the first to cobble together the Dark Avengers. Now on the verge of going viral, u/theincredibleshaq suggests the foundation is going to be made up of David Harbour’s Red Guardian and Taskmaster, a character we still don’t know the actor behind.

Of course, Red Guardian would be the “Dark” Captain America while Taskmaster’s powerless skillset would closely mimic those of Hawkeyes. The theorist then suggests characters like Abomination, Whiplash, or Justin Hammer could then round out the group as characters introduced in previous properties. While we know Dark Avengers is definitely not a Phase 4 movie, it stands to reason it could make its way to the MCU in Phase 5 or beyond. Either way, it’s a pretty concise theory you can read here or below.

As with many other theories and comic properties, Dark Avengers is one that’s been rumored to have been in development for quite some time. As recently as last October, the scoopers over at That Hashtag Show claimed Marvel Studios had commissioned a script for the film. Harbour himself had previously confirmed with ComicBook that yes, his Black Widow character is very much a counterpart to Chris Evans’ Captain America.

“That’s one of the things I really like about this character,” Harbour reflects. “There’s an openness to interpretation. The one thing we do is know is that he’s the counterpart to Captain America on the Russian Soviet side, but that way we have a lot of play with who he is and we are playing with him.”

Do you think we’ll eventually get the Dark Avengers in the MCU? Will Black Widow introduce a few of those characters? Share your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt!

Black Widow opens in theaters on May 1, 2020. Other upcoming Marvel Studios projects include The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in spring 2021, Loki in spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If? In summer 2021, Hawkeye in fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.