With Black Widow set to come out next year, it’s safe to say it’s one of Marvel’s most anticipated projects. The full cast of the movie was recently announced at SDCC this past July. David Harbour, most known for Stranger Things, was cast as Red Guardian. Though not a very well known character in the MCU, he raises a bunch of questions. However, comic lore has him as the leader of the Russian equivalent of the Avengers, aka The Winter Guard. With the introduction of such a new character, does that mean the rest of the Guard will make an appearance as well? Here’s is who Black Widow could potentially be showcasing, and how they could possibly end up mixing in the movie.
1. Who Is The Winter Guard
First making their appearance in Iron Man Vol. 3 #9, they aided Black Widow and Iron Man take down The Mandarin. In the comics, they refused because they didn’t want to abandon their country. In the movie, they could be an entirely different group. Known as “The Russian Avngers”, each member has powers that could help along the way.
Red Guardian, aka Alexi Shostakov, would be the equivalent to Captain America. Trained by the KGB, he became one of Russia’s top operatives and became a super solider. Hopefully the MCU version of Alexi doesn’t become cruel and ruthless, like his comic book counterpart.
Darkstar, aka Laynia Petrovna, a Russian Mutant, also trained by the KGB, has the ability to manipulate Darkforce, an intense form of energy; the look coming in the form of a black gas (same energy as Cloak, aka Tyrone Johnson). This very energy allows her to make various shapes to help her fight in battle, teleport long distances and fly.
Ursa Major, aka Mikhail Ursus, is one of Russia’s first Mutants. He too would end up joining the Winter Guard as their “Hulk”. Being a Mutant, and by his name suggesting, his ability is transforming into a bear. He retains his ability to speak and his intelligence, all while adding weight and height. Turning into a bear also grants him peak speed of an actual bear, 45 mph. Other things like enhanced stamina, agility and durability allow him to be the team’s tank.
Crimson Dynamo, aka Anton Vanko, became one of Russia’s top scientists and inventors. Upon creating a suit that could control electromagnetism, along with his genius level intellect, he was a brilliant candidate to join the Winter Guard. His suit’s abilities allowed him to be able to lift 1 ton, shoot electronic energy blasts, override nearby technology, form a disrupter field, and have increased durability, allowing him less recovery time when injured in battle.
Igor Stancheck, aka Radioactive Man, is the Russian counter part of Chen Lu, He posses the same powers: the abilities to manipulate and absorb radiation. With that power he can cause: energy blasts so bright to cause temporary blindness, hard radiation to cause his enemies to be severely disorientated, nauseous or even suffer radiation poisioning, radioactive force fields, and super human strength. Not a lot is known about his background, other than he was a mercenary. So hopefully Black Widow can do him justice.
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