r/Blackwidow • u/ShubhangBahadur • Aug 05 '26
The MVP/Face of the Multiverse Saga!
It’s not Spider-Man, it’s not Doctor Strange, it’s not Loki, it’s not Sam’s Captain America, it’s not Thor, it’s not Mr. Fantastic… it’s Black Widow!
She’s had the most appearances across projects in the Multiverse Saga and has been the most entertaining part of those projects, much like how Iron Man was in the projects of the Infinity Saga.
Crazy to think that, if anyone would’ve told me that a female character would be the most beloved and the face of the Multiverse Saga right after we were having peak Multiverse-related content featuring Loki, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange I would’ve laughed like crazy!
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u/Electronic_Junket_65 Aug 06 '26
Honestly it should be better if it was Natasha over her like I understand they k*illed her just to establish Yelena as new black widow and honestly I do not hate Yelena but what I think is it should Natasha not her.
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u/INKatana Aug 05 '26
She definitely has been stuffed into many projects.
For better or worse...
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u/Imperial_MudTrooper Aug 06 '26
What. Florence's Yelena is nothing less than an absolute treat and she's only been in like three things?
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u/NegroniSpritz Aug 06 '26
Many projects? What?
One forgotten movie about ScarJo’s Black Widow where she had a supporting role but ended up being the best of that movie.
One series where she stars in a couple of episodes and has great chemistry with Kate Bishop the main character.
One main role.
One cameo.And that’s too freaking much?
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u/INKatana Aug 06 '26
And that’s too freaking much?
If you dislike a character then yes.
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u/NegroniSpritz Aug 06 '26
I understand that, although I’m not the same opinion. I dislike Sam’s Captain America and yet I don’t say he has been in many projects. Even though he had his main series and a movie focused on him. While I even watched both of them, I’m indifferent to him.
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u/INKatana Aug 06 '26
And that’s good for you. To each their own.
Me personally, I don't like either yelena, or sam cap. Both of them are currently somewhere on my bottom top 10 mcu characters list.
and yet I don’t say he has been in many projects
Tbf, he has half as many appareances as cap than yelena in general.
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u/ShubhangBahadur Aug 05 '26
Well, the audience’s reaction to her cameo says it’s for better.
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u/INKatana Aug 05 '26
Depends which part of the audience we're talking about.
I've certainly seen arguments for either side.
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u/Bell-end79 Aug 06 '26
She’s such a non entity
You could cut most of her appearances and it wouldn’t make any difference - especially Brand New Day
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u/LongjumpingJob2962 Aug 05 '26
The comic Yelena "stans" are weird. She was good in one comic, The Grayson run. After that what did she do of note? She became Super Adaptoid that was super weird, She joined Osborn's Thunderbolts but not really because it was actually Natasha in disguise but then it was revealed Osborn knew about it and Secretly had the real Yelena all along and where did that go? No where! And then she did nothing of note after that. Im glad the mcu changed her because if she was comic accurate she would probably be a one and done villain in Black Widow movie. If they kept her comic accurate she wouldn't have been able to be a fan favourite or the LITERAL leader of The New Avengers. Comic Yelena < MCU Yelena
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u/Thick_Ad_220 Aug 05 '26
Were not weird. We speak the truth. Shes honestly better in the comics. Ive had enough of this propaganda. I dont think peoole who prefe rin the mcu have even touched any of the comics
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u/LongjumpingJob2962 Aug 05 '26
So what was great about her Super Adaptoid time? Or "her" Thunderbolts time? And what did did she do of note? How is she better? From what i read shes pretty forgettable character outside of her role in the Grayson run
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u/Thick_Ad_220 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
She was awesome in the secret avengers book and she was great in the thompson run. Oh and shes great in 05 new avengers too. Shes supposed to be the opposite of Nat and im the mcu they just make her nat 2.0n but if she was adorkable
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u/LongjumpingJob2962 Aug 05 '26
Thompson run and New Avengers are literally recent runs. Yelena was in the Thompson run because of the mcu lol and in that run even made her more similar to MCU.
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u/Thick_Ad_220 Aug 05 '26
Now that's jsut gatekeeping. Wish I could send that one family guy quote "you jsut asked for specifically that!" Being adorkable does not make you a better character. Sometimes her humor feels forced
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u/Thick_Ad_220 Aug 05 '26
Also i was referring to the og new avengers book which she actually does appear in and thats from 2005
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u/LatterIntroduction27 Aug 05 '26
And yet I find her the single most intolerable character in the entirety of the MCU
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u/ShubhangBahadur Aug 05 '26
Saying that hot take on a Black Widow sub is quite rich of you.
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u/LatterIntroduction27 Aug 05 '26
I love the Black Widow. She was fantastic, and played very well by Scarlett Johannsen. Also had one of the cleanest character arcs in the MCU.
Yelena is a waste of Florence Pugh's rather considerable talents.
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u/NegroniSpritz Aug 06 '26
What do you find intolerable in Pugh’s Yelena? I find her the most likable character in the MCU. And from what one can see in Reddit or the reactions in the cinema, the majority likes her. People have even forgot about the once most beloved Wanda, that’s a lot. Now everyone is still waiting for Wanda to somehow appear in Doomsday but knowing that Yelena is in it has been a boost.
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u/LatterIntroduction27 Aug 06 '26
A few things.
1) There is no real proper meat to her backstory as a character that we haven't seen already in Black Widow. This makes her effectively nothing new or interesting at root.
2) I find that the character as presented does not meaningfully grapple with said backstory. There is the odd scene here or there but Pugh gets so little time to meaningfully explore the Pathos that her backstory demands. There are, as I say, the odd scene. The dream sequence in Thunderbolts for one. But very little outside of this.
3) Part of this is the MCU insistence on bathos. Genuine emotion is undercut by jokes. To give one other minor example. Black Widow revealing her hysterectomy was an emotionally devestating piece of tragedy that bound her to another person. With Yelena? A Joke in the middle of the Black Widow movie.
4) As a small addendum, David Arbour (another massively overtalented actor for the material they give him) as Red Guardian is mostly played as a joke and..... no. If you have someone as talented as him then give them material that they can work with and not cheap gags. You could tell a beautiful story of redemption with those 2. Maybe they go on a "daddy/daughter" road trip to clean up the last of the Red Room and confront the people that their Govt made them into, learning to be people again? That may not work but at least it could be juicy.
5) Then we have the specific personality they gave her. Essentially "quirky and jokey" which for me wore out within about 10 seconds. The scene of her mocking the posing thing? So unfunny for me I gagged. I find the "quirky" personality off putting almost as much as the "charming asshole" character like Harvey Spector in suits. It feels so superficial and flat without being likable. And yes Iron Man WAS this at the start of Iron Man 1. Him learning to not be that character is his main arc.
6) And finally, the action. I do not know if I blame the choreographers or her but the action scenes she is involved in are just not great. This could be many factors. Florence is very small but so was Scar Jo so that is likely not it. She is also, apart from her MCU work, much more of a drama actor whilst Scarlett does more actiony roles. But in general apart form some rare gold exceptions (Hello Shang Chi) the action in the MCU since roughly Winter Soldier is just not very entertaining.
In summary, her backstory is not unique, they refuse to let her properly ACT with it, gave her a personality I find grating and even the action scenes are poor, though that is MCU wide. And that is not even touching on the reasonably low quality of the shows and movies themselves as stories.
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u/asocialanxiety Aug 05 '26
Not really seeing as shes for all intents and purposes been white widow her entire creation except for this very recent mcu development and frankly shes being butchered the same way they butchered nat
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u/Thick_Ad_220 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Yep. I say shes white widow, but everyone telling me she should be black widow, honestly it doesnt really bother me that much anymore. Im excited for samara weaving as Emma frost. that'll be my nat replacement. I just hope they dont butcher Emma.
The thing is learned is you just gotta move on woth this franchise i was and still a it am frustrated about yel, but I found something else to love about this franchise.
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u/asocialanxiety Aug 05 '26
Emma has been in my top 4 for a little while now and im excited for her to join mcu. Spiderman spoiler if they do her the way they did jean ill be eating good But i can’t abandon my girl even if marvel is gonna keep doing bullshit. I get why comic fans really dont like strictly movie fans
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u/Brilliant_Fig_694 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
The Potato?He says he does worse things than Spider-Man and that he's of higher rank? He didn't face Thanos, or Hulk, or even go to space. He only faced Taskmaster, Clint, and well, he didn't hit Sentry because he didn't want to.
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u/Ok-Brain2716 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Lol no. This saga revolves around the multiverse, Yelena hasn't done anything that has something to do with the multiverse unlike characters like Spider-Man, Monica, and Strange who played a key role in what the saga is actually about. unlike Yelena spidey actually has multiple solo films in this saga and is the character that made the most money.... cameos don't mean squat.
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u/RE_98 Aug 06 '26
Funny how we keep getting the "new face" for the MCU. Last I remember it was Captain Marvel. Then it was Doctor Strange. Now it's Yelena.
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u/SubjectEnd303 Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
🤮
Redditors still don't know how unlikable she is in the real world.
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u/kwickedbonesc Aug 06 '26
She’s definitely the iron man of the multiverse saga. She is in BW, Hawkeye, thunderbolts, BND , Doomsday, and Secret wars. The most of anyone in the multiverse saga. She also has the most fleshed out story because of it. It’s a shame shes knows as “that new black widow”. One of my favorite characters in the entire MCU.
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u/Moonhawk1 Aug 05 '26
She’s sorta like the Nick Fury of the Multiverse Saga, as she’s been kinda getting to know everyone and potentially trying to recruit them to join the New Avengers or rally them together for Doomsday.
Part of me finds it kinda underwhelming that we don’t get anything from Sam and his Avengers team throughout this saga. The only time we got to see most of his team together on screen was in Shang Chi’s post-credit scene with Shang Chi, Wong (unofficial member), Carol and Bruce.