After having its release date postponed thrice, the Black Widow movie is finally here, and today we will get its ending explained. Unlike most other Marvel films, Black Widow was a prequel set at a time period between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. If you all remember, Captain America: Civil War had the Avengers split in two. Some were on the run, while others had adhered to the Government. But the fact is Team Cap had rescued Bucky, so they had broken the Sokovia Accords. While these events actually take place back in the 2016-17 era, we are pulled right back into it from Black Widow’s second act itself. Natasha had managed to escape from the U.S. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross. She had gone to Norway and had been living there remotely.
Before this, we learn about Natasha’s past as we see a young Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova having an everyday life with their family. Alexei or Red Guardian comes back home to get his family to run away from their home. We see quite an escape as Natasha flies a jet while Alexei shoots down enemies resting on the wing. They get to Cuba, where Dreykov was waiting for him. Dreykov was the head of the Red Room and got Natasha and Yelena into it as well. Here, we learn how Natasha was already part of the program once, and the family we had seen moments ago was a makeshift family for a mission.
What Happened in the Black Widow Movie?
Back in 2017, Natasha is living in her safe house when Yelena is on a mission to kill a target. Here, she comes in contact with some red gas. This red gas was an antidote from the Red Room’s control and allowed her to have free will. Knowing that Natasha was in The Avengers, she sends over the vials to her. When Natasha mistakenly drives off with them, she is attacked by the Taskmaster. After Natasha fends off the Taskmaster, she learns from whom the package was from. She heads to Budapest and meets up with Yelena. While the two do have a scuffle the moment they meet, they call a truce. As they discuss what the vials were and why Yelena sent them over to Natasha, they both realize something.
Natasha learns from Yelena that the Red Room is still operational. Previously, she and Clint Barton had seemingly killed Dreykov using his daughter as bait to bomb him. But as they had not checked for bodies, Natasha believes what Yelena tells her. This story is later confirmed as Widows come after her. During this, one of them is remotely killed by Dreykov in front of Natasha. Natasha and Yelena then decide to join forces to take down the Red Room. But for this, they must locate it. And the only way to locate it was through their dad, who knew Dreykov. So, with the help of Natasha’s friend, the pair get a helicopter. Using it they fly over a prison to help Alexei make his escape from prison. While there is quite a commotion, a glacier surging caused by Yelena allows Natasha to help Alexei get on the helicopter.
Family Reunion
Alexei, who gets on the helicopter, is seemingly happy to see his daughters, but his feelings are not reciprocated. Both Natasha and Yelena are furious at him for sending them over to the Red Room. When Alexei makes an insensitive joke, we learn that all Widows in the Red Room are leached off from even having the possibility of becoming a parent. This just shows how deeply Dreykov has set the standard of his “Widows” as he cannot have them enjoy their personal lives. Natasha has no time to discuss all of this or even have a reunion. She gets straight to the point to ask the location of the Red Room. Alexei tries to play smart but soon tells the girls that he has no clue. Instead, they must ask Melina about the Red Room.
The girls are surprised to know that their makeshift mother was still alive. Moreover, the fact that she had much more to do with the Red Room had them astonished. Melina was at a remote place in St. Petersburg. While Yelena warns them that they did not have much fuel, Alexei doesn’t believe so. Comically, the helicopter crashes down as the three of them walk over to Melina’s place. Here, as Melina talks over to Natasha and Yelena, Alexei gets into his Red Guardian costume. Then the whole family has their dinner. This soon turns into a heated conversation as we learn how Melina was the one who created the technology to control the Widows. The truth is, she had no idea who it was being used upon. When Natasha exclaims that they are not a real family, Yelena opens by telling how it was all real for her.
The Double Sabotage
As Alexei tries to talk to Yelena, Natasha and Melina start conversing. Here, we realize how Melina did not have a choice but to follow Dreykov. She says how she also felt that their family was real, but she chooses not to dwell in the past. But here we see that she had kept a photo album they had forged back in the day. This just shows how Melina has not moved on. Natasha thinks that she can take down the Red Room herself and walks away. This is when their conversation turns emotional, but it was too late as Melina had already informed Dreykov, and they would come any minute. Elsewhere, Yelena and Alexei finally set foot on common ground when Dreykov’s men arrive. With some help from Melina, all three of them are knocked out as Melina takes them to the Red Room, which is in the sky.
Yelena is sent over to get her defects rectified, while Natasha and Alexei are imprisoned. During this, Melina heads over to Dreykov’s office. We see how Melina is under the control of Dreykov and how he has control over her. As he is about to touch her, Dreyykov realizes that it was not Melina but Natasha. Here we learn how Melina hadn’t betrayed her family, and she had given all the information to Natasha. And it was Natasha disguised as Melina who was present at Dreykov’s office. As Dreykov learns of this, he sends Taskmaster to get the others. But before this, Natasha learns how Taskmaster was Dreykov’s daughter, who she used to bomb him. She had lost half of her face and had become the assassin. Yelena makes her escape from her surgery as she and Melina attempt to free the Widows. Meanwhile, Red Guardian is fighting Taskmaster.
What Happens in Black Widow Ending?
In the ending of Black Widow, we learn how Dreykov controls his Widows. He makes use of something called a pheromone lock that has the Widows set to not be able to harm him. This is why when Natasha tries to shoot or stab Dreyknov, she stops halfway. Likewise, he also makes use of Melina’s research to control all the widows around the world. Through his little console, Dreykov had the capability of beginning and ending wars. We see a flashback of how Melina tells Natasha how to stop the pheromone lock. She damages her nerve by hitting her hard on the table. Surprisingly, she is now finally able to harm Dreykov. But just before she does, Dreykov manages to call his Widows to the room. Then the other widows arrive to attack Natasha, which allows Dreykov to make his escape.
Meanwhile, Melina’s actions lead to the Red Room starting to fall from the sky. Everyone is on the run when Yelena comes with a Red Dust explosive to get all Widows out of the control of Dreykov. Soon after, Natasha downloads all the files pertaining to the Red Room, after which, just like everyone, she tries to escape the Red Room. Melina and Alexei fly off only to try and come back, but they lose control of their aircraft to start falling. Elsewhere, as Dreykov tries to fly away, Yelena damages his aircraft to blow it away. This causes Yelena to start falling from the Red Room. Natasha grabs a parachute and jumps off to catch hold of her. They deploy the parachute, but Taskmaster is after them. After an aerial brawl, both reach the ground. Natasha uses the red gas at Taskmaster to free her as well.
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Black Widow Ending Explained
At the end of the Black Widow Movie, we see that Thaddeus Ross has come for Natasha. As she sees them, Natasha asks Yelena to help the other Widows get back on their feet. Her family is unwilling to go without her, but Natasha reassures that she will be safe. The other Widows come back to pick them up when Yelena informs them of Dreykov’s death. They all will now work together to help other Widows around the world as well. Natasha gives the last sample of the antidote to Yelena so that Melina could replicate the formula. In return, Yelena gives her jacket to Natasha. This was a prized possession of hers that she wants her sister to have. As the Government officials get closer, Yelena leaves with Melina, Alexei, Taskmaster, and the other Widows on an aircraft.
The screen goes dark as we head off to the near future. Two weeks have passed as we see that Natasha has now changed her appearance to that of Avengers: Infinity War. She now has short blond hair and wears Yelena’s jacket. She meets her friend as he sleeps on the side of the street. This time, he has a jet for her and is finally able to impress Natasha. As she was about to leave, she is asked where she was going. Natasha says how she has two families now, The Avengers and her old family with Melina, Alexei, and Yelena.
Natasha leaves as she tells how she would be making use of this jet to free her friends. This should most likely be Clint Barton and others who have been captured in the Raft. They were arrested at the end of Captain America: Civil War for breaking the Sokovian Accords. The reason Natasha may have changed her appearance could be because she ran away from General Ross and wanted to disguise herself.
Black Widow Post-Credit Scene Explained
In the post-credit scene of Black Widow, we see Yelena in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame. There is a tombstone for her as Yelena heads over there to pay her respects. We can see that she even has a dog, meaning that she is attempting to have a normal life. Here, Contessa Valentina had arrived to give Yelena her new target. This should mean that Yelena had been working for Valentina for some time now. Valentina tries to play with Yelena’s emotions as she allows Yelena to take her revenge by killing her next target, which was Clint Barton. While only a few of them knew how Natasha really died, Valentin tries to play it off as Clint had murdered Natasha. So, as Florence Pugh is confirmed for the Hawkeye show, this should provide the base plotline for that.
As for Valentina herself, this is not the first time we have seen her. Her last appearance was in the Disney+ show, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. There she had arrived to recruit John Walker as the U.S. Agent. And here she had already recruited Yelena. When we look at it carefully, Valentina could be seen gathering a team. This team isn’t exactly the best of the best, but an alternate version of the Avengers. And seeing the ominous ways Valentina makes her appearances, chances are that she has a key role to play in future Marvel Phases. This team of alternate Avengers could grow bigger as more films and T.V. shows come out. Moreover, one thing to notice is how as per previous release schedules, Black Widow was to be released before The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which could account for something.
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