If there’s one thing to be excited about for the upcoming Black Widow movie, it’s David Harbour. I mean, when is he not fun to watch? Okay, I must admit, I still haven’t watched Stranger Things, but I hear he’s great in it. Yeah, I realize I’m in the minority in that one, but even when he’s in something bad, he can still steal the show. You want an example? The last Hellboy movie. It certainly wasn’t the best movie we’ve all seen, but David Harbour’s performance was worth sitting through the whole thing. Then again, that’s just my opinion, but I think most of us can agree that David Harbour is great.
Now, about Black Widow. This is an upcoming movie that many fans feel like should’ve happened a long time ago. I don’t entirely disagree, considering that Natasha Romanoff was one of the original big heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Oh, and just in case anyone forgot, she sadly perished in Avengers: Endgame. Will she even stay dead? That’s a whole other topic, but no matter what you think about when Black Widow should’ve been released, I think the presence of David Harbour will certainly get people excited.
For Black Widow, he will be playing the role of Alexei Shostakov, aka the Red Guardian. He’s basically the Russian version of Captain America, except in this case, he’s a lot more scruffy. Oh, and he’s playing a very fat version of him too. On the surface, this version of the Red Guardian might not look like he could light a candle to Captain America, but I say wait and see what he does. If he’s capable of going toe-to-toe with Taskmaster, then he’s got to be the real deal.
Oh, and again, let’s not forget that he’s being played by David Harbour, who looks like he’s fully invested into the role. Just watch the trailer again and listen to his heavy Russian accent. Anyway, I’m bringing up David Harbour for more than just mere excitement. With all the recent character posters being released, our Red Guardian added a little something extra.
David Harbour posted the Red Guardian’s character poster on his Instagram and included a little message that teased the debut of a lesser-known Marvel team. Based on the trailers of Black Widow, we have learned that Russia was attempting to make their own super soldiers. If America was going to have its own defining superhero, then why shouldn’t they?
Better yet, why stop at one superhero? Why can’t Russia have their own Avengers team? They actually did form their own Avengers, known as the Winter Guard. This Russian superhero team essentially mirrored the Avengers, with Red Guardian being a prime example.
In David Harbour’s post, he mentioned at least three other members of the Winter Guard. According to him, he just couldn’t wait to eat a bag of popcorn with other Winter Guard members, including the two Black Widows, Ursa, CD, and Sputnik. Whoa, now he’s making things very interesting for Black Widow. Could he be implying that we’ll be seeing the beginning of the Winter Guard? This is a whole new team for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and let’s not forget it takes place after the events of Civil War.
So let’s just say that his post has some validity behind it. I hope there is, because giving the Winter Guard their MCU debut could expand the boundaries of the MCU in many ways. For one, we’d be getting a new superhero team that operates in another country. Since the Avengers have been disbanded due to the Sokovia Accords, this could be an opportune time for Russia to unleash their own Avengers team. Perhaps this is why Red Guardian and Yelena are searching for Natasha.
I have a feeling whatever organization is after them could be trying to form the Winter Guard. Now if we look into the other members David Harbour mentioned in his post, this could play a big part in the movie. The least popular Winter Guard member he mentioned, Sputnik, is a robot with the power to control machines. This sounds about as cliche on the Russian superhero trend as it could get, but a version of Sputnik could exist in the MCU. If he’s not a fighting machine like in the comics, then he could just be an artificial intelligence assisting the hostile Russian organization. Then again, if they made a super soldier, then they can make a deadly robot.
So who was David Harbour referring to when he mentioned CD? That would be Russia’s very own Iron Man, Crimson Dynamo. There have been several Crimson Dynamo’s in Marvel Comics, and almost all of them were enemies of Iron Man. Dimitri Bukharin, the fifth Crimson Dynamo, is the current leader of the Winter Guard. Was this the Crimson Dynamo David Harbour was referring to? Then again, it’s possible he wasn’t even referring to a specific one. For all we know, if he’s being serious, then the Crimson Dynamo he’s talking about could be a villainous version. If it is, then we can possibly see Red Guardian and Crimson Dynamo go at it. Think of it as the next Captain America vs. Iron Man fight.
And the last guy David Harbour mentioned was someone named Ursa. Ursa is a mutant with the full name of Ursa Major, with the ability to transform into a big humanoid bear. He’s basically the Winter Guard’s Hulk. The only difference is obvious: he’s a big flipping bear. That’s some awesome stuff right there to add in the MCU, especially if he has a Russian accent to go with it. The only issue with adding him to the MCU so soon is that he’s a mutant. Now his debut could be the early introduction to the mutants in the MCU. Maybe they don’t even have to say he’s a mutant to keep it low key, or his abilities could just be the result of a crazy experiment.
If there is one member of Winter Guard who could be better than the rest, it would be Ursa Major. If the rest are villains, and since Red Guardian isn’t exactly fit for leadership, Ursa Major could take the lead. Maybe all he needs is for Natasha to give him his humanity back, similar to what she did for Bruce Banner.
David Harbour certainly turned some heads with his post and I hope he’s not just messing with us. If he isn’t, however, we could be in for another awesome kind of Avengers-like team.
