Black Widow’s David Harbour Explains How Red Guardian Is Like “Russia’s Captain America”

David Harbour is hyping his turn as Red Guardian in Black Widow. The star sat down with Jimmy Kimmel to discuss how his character compares to Captain America. Many have noticed the design similarities, including a shield of his own. But, the Stranger Things star wanted to start with the basics, that facial hair to be exact. The first time anyone saw Red Guardian in motion, it was in that first Black Widow trailer. A slight comedic moment alongside Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh. Harbour’s burly hero squeezing into that suit again after an extended period out of the game. It seems like the actor is playing up that gut just a bit. It seems like Alexi Shostakov will be some comic relief during the film. However, the action figure that Kimmel and the star focus on shows how eager the hero will be to get into the fight once it starts rolling.

“Kind of, I mean a lot less in shape,” Harbour joked. “But a lot more, ‘Here’s sweets,’ like definitely a nice thick beard on him. Which supplements or augments that belly.”

In some previous comment to TheWrap, he explained that the hero, “blew it in certain ways and he’s trying to start up again.”

“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?” Harbour explained in 2020. “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.”

All nine episodes of WandaVision are now streaming on Disney+. The rest of 2021’s Marvel Cinematic Universe line-up includes The Falcon and the Winter Soldier premiering on Disney+ on March 19th, Black Widow in theatres on May 7th, Loki debuting on Disney+ on June 11th, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in theatres on July 9th, What If… on Disney+ this summer, Eternals in theatres on November 5th, Hawkeye and Ms. Marvel is coming to Disney+ later in the year, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home in theatres on December 17th.

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