Black Widow Star Hints at Red Guardian vs. Captain America Spinoff Plans

Black Widow is finally hitting theatres and Disney+ Premier Access in July, and the early reactions from critics have been super promising. Today saw the cast doing a virtual press conference, and they teased some fun and excitement from the Marvel Cinematic Universe film. One such star was David Harbour, who is best known for playing Chief Jim Hopper on Stranger Things. Harbour plays Red Guardian/Alexei in the new movie, who is basically the Russian version of Captain America. During the press conference, Harbour said he’d like to see a showdown between Cap and Red Guardian.

“What’s funny about Alexei, you have this 25-year gap we don’t know about (in the movie). We see him in Ohio and in the prison. And even before the prison, there was a time when he was the Red Guardian, he must have put the suit back on. There is this period of time where he has all these stories about his life. It’s questionable whether or not they’re real,” Harbour shared.

He added, “I do think the classic Cold War thing is a really fun and funny dynamic between these two guys and the fact that they came up like nuclear warheads like in an arms race together. I think it’s a great concept that could be explored further.” Harbour joked, “Is Kevin Feige in the room, did he hear?”

In a previous chat with The Wrap, Harbour explained that his character “blew it in certain ways and he’s trying to start up again.” He added, “I really like that angle on a superhero. All the talk with superheroes can be focused on their invincibility, so where do you find the cracks in that? … And Red Guardian has tons of cracks all over him. And he’s not the heroic, noble man that you want him to be. He both comically and tragically has a lot of flaws. And I love that about it. And also, he has a lot of strengths.”

Black Widow is now scheduled to hit in theatres and Disney+ Premier Access on July 9th. The rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2021 line-up includes Loki, which releases new episodes on Disney+ on Wednesdays, What If… on Disney+ in August, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in theatres on September 3rd, Eternals in theatres on November 5th, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel coming to Disney+ later in the year, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home in theatres on December 17th.