The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a carefully crafted juggernaut that’s always moving forward.
But for Cate Shortland’s standalone Black Widow, the MCU will look to the past – specifically the one belonging to Natasha Romanoff – for a story that’s largely set in the interval between Civil War and Infinity War.
It’s just as well, too, given Natasha Romanoff kicked the bucket in Avengers: Endgame, tossing herself off the cliffs of Vormir so that her life-long friend Hawkeye – and, by effect, half of the universe – could survive. So expect Black Widow to explore some of the character beats that preceded that historic act of martyrdom.
Chief among them being Natasha’s quasi-family involving the other Widows, and the dreaded Red Room. Speaking of which, one curious fan has spotted what appears to be an MCU Easter egg which, if true, would help establish a connection between Black Widow and Shane Black’s Iron Man 3.
Via Twitter:
Through the magic of flipping the picture, you might see the word AIM above Yelana's noggin. This is almost certainly AFTER the big, final fight since she's wearing the same outfit. pic.twitter.com/Nuz6l4BqGT
— Charles Murphy (@_CharlesMurphy) March 13, 2020
See that? If you click on the photo, it reveals three blurry letters: AIM. Long-time MCU fans will know AIM to stand for Advanced Idea Mechanics, a bleeding-edge initiative developed by Aldrich Killian, which later spawned the Extremis virus.
Of course, that’s not to say that Guy Pearce’s unhinged maniac is on the verge of a return – merely that Black Widow will harken back to the plot of Iron Man 3. Of course, that is assuming that those three letters in the picture above actually refer to the AIM project.
Once scheduled to arrive in early May, Marvel’s long-awaited Black Widow movie has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. The Powers That Be have yet to announce its new ETA – no surprise there, as COVID-19 is a constantly evolving situation – but we’ll notify you if and when that new date is revealed.
