BLACK WIDOW | First Time Reaction | Movie Review & Commentary

[@DC_Prox]

Yelena's love for that vest is one of the most realistic things about this movie. The power of pockets.

[@reactswithjax]

Her love for that vest made this movie 100x more wonderful!

[@LetufaaHello]

@@reactswithjax Can you please react to kung fu panda 4

[@kat76woman]

If you go back to Infinity War - Natasha is wearing the vest

[@tothra]

Add to it that women's clothes, for some reason, are very bad about having pockets. My wife always complains about it 😁

[@LetufaaHello]

@@reactswithjax Can you please react to kung fu panda 4

[@bidwell13]

46:55 she broke her nose that “severed” the nerve to smell. After she beat him she set her nose basically fixing the nerve. 48:59 did you catch the dogs name? She named the dog Fanny which was one of Natasha’s aliases that her friend created for her. 50:33 and this post credit scene leads you into “Hawkeye” tv series.

[@passionsquietrage]

I wonder if that alias' last name, Longbottom, was a reference to Harry Potter's Neville Longbottom or if it was just a coincidence.

[@timlanteigne298]

So this villain was foreshadowed in the first Avengers movie. When Natasha is talking to Loki while in his cage, he says "Drakov's daughter" when going down the list of things she's done. No one knew what it meant at the time.

[@passionsquietrage]

Everyone figured it was just another name on her list of kills, which it technically is

[@loftyguy11]

He literally threw a car in the first scene, but it was kicking down a door that made you ask "Is he a super soldier?" 😂

[@reactswithjax]

Hahaha!

[@number1fool]

You blew lamby’s cover! Now lamby’s gotta go on…the lamb. Couldn’t resist

[@tothra]

Probably the best comment I'll read today. And just in time for Father's Day 😂

[@MGower4465]

You forgot your sheepish grin while pulling the wool over our eyes

[@reactswithjax]

Haha! I love that!

[@AdamPFarnsworth]

"Cover"? Of COURSE we'd suspect the dragon!

[@Dan-pw4eh]

You should watch Police Academy 2😀

[@johnniequinn3215]

The “poser” bit started as an on set joke about Florence Pugh teasing Scarlett Johansson about how unrealistic that fighting stance was. The Director thought it was so funny they had the whole bit written into the script.

[@PROVOCATEURSK]

Based.

[@reactswithjax]

That's awesome!!

[@tahirahshabazz50]

Nice. Didn’t know this.

[@joshuacampbell7493]

RIP Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow. You were a True Avenger.

[@BudhagRizzo]

From what I understand, the Widows were given a variant of the super soldier serum that enhances their abilities. They're not super strong but they're quick, agile and can take a beating. Definitely check out "Hawkeye" next.

[@havok6280]

RIP to William Hurt aka Thunderbolt Ross.

[@SilentBob731]

One of The Greats.🥃

[@richardb6260]

Harrison Ford is taking over the role.

[@NoArmsSally]

the man was not great, he was accused of sexual assault of a few actresses and gave a weak apology before he died.

[@havok6280]

​@@NoArmsSallyaccusations aren't proof. How many times was he convicted? More importantly, only great men deserve to rest in peace? Since when?

[@famebrightstudio451]

@@havok6280 just thumbs downing all of you. Pervert or not he's dead, get over it folks.

[@kratosGOW]

Taskmaster’s power in the comics is the ability to see someone’s fighting style (which is why (s)he was watching old footage of the Avengers fighting) and perfectly mimic it. That is the reason you recognized Captain America’s fighting style on the bridge earlier in the movie. Taskmaster here is seen mimicking a bunch of different Avengers’ fighting styles. Remember the explosive arrow shot underneath their SUV?

[@reactswithjax]

That's so cool! I didn't know she had her own name!

[@kratosGOW]

@@reactswithjax Her own name? You mean “Taskmaster”? That name was mentioned in this very movie. Did you miss that part? Oh whoops! 😅😆

[@Ranger1PresentsVirtualRealms]

@@reactswithjax Yeah, it was kind of a throw away line... very easy to miss. They referred to it as "Activating the Task Master protocol" or something similar and then showed her watching the Avengers videos to learn their moves. That was also how she mirrored Natasha's moves when they first fought.

[@passionsquietrage]

That explosive arrow looked pretty similar to the exploding disc Bucky shot at Fury's car in Winter Soldier.

[@michaelohearn6616]

Your excitement for Don McLean's American Pie was fantastic!

[@reactswithjax]

One of the best songs!!

[@richardb6260]

Great song. I know it by heart. I've always liked "Everybody Loves Me" from the same album.

[@MrHollowLively]

Girl you gotta watch Hawkeye. Like right now. Kill your plans, boot up Disney+, kick off the shoes, pull out the robe, get recording. It is so good. Direct sequel to this and its as good as Loki in my opinion.

[@scottallen6160]

The actor playing Taskmaster/ Antonia (Olga Kurlyenko) also co-starred in Oblivion with Tom Cruise. You can see her without scars and how good she is at acting. Florence Pugh (Yelena) created such a great character. I know you will like her return.

[@cbebrad]

Olga Kurlyenko was also in a James Bond film with Daniel Craig. Isn't Rachel Wiess married to Daniel Craig?

[@scottallen6160]

@@cbebrad Didn’t know bout that. And I think so.

[@grantheming1975]

Overall, I still think this is an underrated MCU. It's not Endgame level but still really good. The biggest problem is that it should've been released about 5 years earlier 🤷‍♂️

[@reactswithjax]

I agree! It's a great film and I would have loved to have seen it before Endgame.

[@grantheming1975]

@@reactswithjax Agreed. You and Lamby keep up the good work!!

[@nyghtmoon]

​@reactswithjax The previous head of the MCU was very, very opposed to giving BW her own movie. Instead he altered Winter Soldier to include Natasha hoping that would satisfy demand. While I totally love Natasha in that movie, originally Sharon Carter was the one working with Steve, which would have explained their romance better in Civil War.

[@jiopa]

Agreed. My only downside is the action isnt the best.

[@tahirahshabazz50]

Another misstep though few were made.

[@toddjordan1149]

OK Jax, so I know you had no control over this but it was impeccable timing! Just after the scene where Alexei gets his Red Guardian suit back and Melina says "I never washed it once" and your reaction was "EW! Why?", the KZbin commercials kicked in - one for Tide, the washing detergent, and the second was for Old Spice, to make a man smell fresh and clean. Don't tell me that AI isn't everywhere! LOL!!

[@Trixstien]

The actress that plays young Natasha is Ever Anderson, whom is Milla Jovovich daughter.

[@SilentBob731]

Thank you. She looked a bit familiar before and just this reaction I thought "She kinda looks like a young Milla Jovovich".

[@SummitSummit]

Thank you! She looked so familiar but I couldn't place her. Spitting image of her mother, it seems.

[@reactswithjax]

Wow! That's so cool!

[@HBKCommish]

I never knew that. But yeah, totally makes sense. Looks just like her.

[@passionsquietrage]

So she definitely has badass genes.

[@robertsanssouci2093]

A feral cat adopted me and just had 5 kittens on my back patio. All of them are black so I’m naming the bigger female Natasha and the runt is Yelana I’ve started my own widow army and I should have complete control of the world by mid September 🤣🙌🏼🐈‍⬛

[@zamhobby9662]

A cat adopted you? Not you adopted it? So who is in control of your black widow cats army? That feral cat or you?🤨

[@mousebyte94]

Dont be fooled. The cat is always in charge

[@tjkhanks]

Well if they take over the world, then let me say sternly to you and them........ MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW!!😅

[@robertsanssouci2093]

@@zamhobby9662 I think I’m just their servant 🤷🏻‍♂️ I bring them lots of Fancy Feast twice a day and I set out some empty cardboard boxes for them to do cat stuff and they barely acknowledge me 🤣 The momma is a beautiful Russian Blue. She looks just like an Egyptian drawing of a cat so I named her Cleopatra. Cleo for short. One of the kittens has the weirdest white line above its eye. It is so thin I thought it was cobweb the first time I noticed it. But yeah I named that one Harry Catter obviously 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️ oh and one of the tiny ones has what looks like the beginning of a tuxedo on its chest. Like a quarter sized white triangle. So I named that one Tuxatony. So only one of them remains unnamed at this point 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️… I have no life and it shows 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️

[@danielj4587]

We had a feral cat adopt us, and have kittens a few years back. She's now a partially feral indoor-outdoor cat, that loves our dogs.

[@amurderofbananas7449]

Jax: How long can you engage in hand to hand combat? Steve Rogers: 😏

[@reactswithjax]

Hahahaha!

[@metoo7557]

No no, the correct answer is Steve Rogers: I can do this all day

[@tahirahshabazz50]

@@metoo7557tomatoe tomato

[@damacattack8434]

Black Widow had one of the darkest intros in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

[@PROVOCATEURSK]

We work in the dark to serve the light.

[@JuLiane]

Agree. The intro with the music was haunting to watch. I loved it.

[@NealMarchuk]

Jax, your reaction to this movie was so much fun! There is indeed a lot going on in the post-credits scene, so of course you had to cope with a lot of emotions watching it. It's simply heartbreaking to witness the finality of Natasha's gravestone, but so touching as well to see all the love for her. A bit of background on Taskmaster: The character was quite different in the comics. There, Taskmaster was a man, and naturally possessed an ability to perfectly copy the physical and combat abilities of anyone he saw, whether in person or through video footage. He couldn't copy superhuman powers or strength, but any fighting techniques he could make his own. Here, Antonia has that ability -- when she's introduced, we can see her watching numerous video screens with footage of the Avengers fighting, and throughout the movie she employs the fighting style of Black Widow, Captain America, the Black Panther and even Spider-Man. I'm not sure whether the copying power is hers inherently, or whether Dreykov enhanced her artificially. And yes, in the source material, the Red Guardian was meant as a Soviet counterpart to Captain America, and they met and fought on occasion. The relationship between Alexei, Natasha and Yelena is very different there, however.

[@benjamminraps1030]

There is a Hawkeye miniseries, and I am EAGERLY awaiting you watching that for more of Yelena being Yelena. Florence Pugh and the writers have made her an iconic character and she is worthy of her beloved status.

[@vkdeckard8116]

my FAVORITE scene is now the -vest scene-cause you got such pure pleasure from that genuine moment ❤

[@reactswithjax]

It was such a great scene!! And a great vest!

[@robertfalcon6083]

I swear you are the sharpest reactor on all of KZbin!!! You pick up on all the nuances and implications of events and subtleties! Great job!

[@so0pak5v9n]

Exactly, the hair color, the vest, holding her breath, it's satisfying knowing she gets it, like showing your friend a movie and not having the explain everything but rather talk about the implications of the movie on the larger MCU timeline.

[@reactswithjax]

Thank you so much!! I have the biggest smile on my face after reading this because it made me so happy!! ❤❤

[@toddjordan1149]

SO MANY NUISANCES!! 😂🤣😂 Or maybe even...nuances??

[@robertfalcon6083]

@@toddjordan1149 omg I didn’t even notice!!!! Hahahaha thanks!!! That’s what I get for not reading before submitting…kk I edited

[@Ghost8386]

Director Cate Shortland found inspiration in popular action and espionage movies like The Bourne series, Mission: Impossible, The Manchurian Candidate, and James Bond. I was 11 in 1995. I also loved that Natasha was watching Moonraker(1979) in this movie.

[@dongilleo9743]

I wondered about the Moonraker scene inclusion in this movie. Perhaps it's a bit of a stretch, but that movie has a killer/assassin(Jaws) working for the villain, who in the end realizes he's being taken advantage of, finds romance, switches sides, and teams up with good guy Bond. Is it meant as something of a parallel with Natasha's life, or am I reading too much into it?

[@amurderofbananas7449]

It’s not really talked about a lot, but the Black Widows are a take on trafficking, which also isn’t discussed enough. Very sad indeed.

[@tahirahshabazz50]

Got that. Unfortunately.

[@spinynorman887]

Personally, I was really impressed by Alexi's growth in this movie. Think about it. At the beginning, he was fully immersed in the mission. After the jailbreak, he was self-absorbed and an ass. After reuniting with Melina, he tries (badly) to go into Dad mode, botching his dadologues and missing opportunities to heal. But finally, at the end, he becomes self-aware enough to realize that sometimes keeping your big mouth shut is the move.

[@daddynitro199]

8:42 Taskmaster protocol? I’d *love* to see Florence Pugh do hilariously ludicrous things at the behest of Greg Davies and Little Alex Horne!

[@todderickson2435]

"Voltar? Vulcan?" 😂😂 You're the best, Jax! Can't wait to see your reactions to the Hawkeye series!

[@reactswithjax]

Haha! Thank you! I'm looking forward to seeing it!

[@shaunjp2211]

Live life and prosper lol

[@marinajogos9082]

Fun fact, in the comics Yelena and Natasha are enemies, but Scarlett Johansson wanted to make another relationship between them, and it certainly turned out MUCH BETTER

[@reactswithjax]

I love their relationship in this movie!

[@gintasadomynas8450]

Sad part Natasha with Clint had lot time, while Yelena her own Clint Natasha relationship lasted few days, really should have get movie earlier

[@McMahonHater]

My guess is this story takes place right around the same time as Black Panther. The post Credit Scene us why you watch these movies in release order the first time.

[@Ranger1PresentsVirtualRealms]

Before I forget, you've gotta love the dogs name being Fanny... Fanny Longbottom. Apparently at some point Yelena must have found out the alias Natasha was operating under and found it amusing enough to remember fondly.

[@KenTheReactionAddict]

FYI: some helicopters do have an autopilot function. It’s call “autohover” and the pilot can set it so that they can release the controls and loosen their muscles or stretch without the copter spinning out of control.

[@ChrisReise]

Hey Jax. Just to give you a mental timeline of this flick....The appetizer (intro flashback) takes place in 1995, the main course (bulk of the film) takes place right after after "Captain America: Civil War", and the dessert (post credit scene) takes place after "Avengers: Endgame." Hope you enjoyed watching this one.

[@reactswithjax]

Thank you so much!

[@jkhoover]

She was aware of all of this.

[@petrolhead0387]

Florence Pugh stole this movie, she is probably the biggest redemption to black widows only solo, which I'll be honest about, it wasn't the best of the MCU, but definitely not the worst.

[@battlebrand3]

The guy who got his wrist broken is a mutant with the ability to turn into an enormous bear, that’s why he’s called Ursa

[@RedSkull67104]

Now I know where I know him from. Michael Arsus of the Guardians. The guy/ bear with the Gatling gun.

[@battlebrand3]

@@RedSkull67104 almost…..Ursa Major is from Marvel Comics as a member of a Russian superhero team

[@Jeff-t2y]

So glad that you didn't edit out your "flub" when you said "this is how it was in the beginning"!!! I think that is so adorable and real!! Thanks for the reaction!!!

[@afrancis1582]

I’m sure others will point this out, but when Loki was tormenting Natasha about the terrible things she’d done, the one that affected her most was ‘Drakov’s daughter’. That’s why the redemption is so meaningful. Also, Loki said “your ledger must be dripping red” as an insult. Then her ‘father’ uses it as a compliment.

[@AlexandruCarjan]

She was playing Loki.... he wasn't tormenting her at all

[@afrancis1582]

@@AlexandruCarjan Sure. It’s her interrogation tactic, letting them torture or torment her. She lets them think they are getting to her. But she is in control. But that doesn’t mean she feels nothing when it’s happening. Like a good actor using real painful experiences to give a believable performance.

[@thijsvandrenth5947]

It was very entertaining to watch your reaction. Also the way you try to think about any realism in this movie is very fun. To me this is one of those movies where you just have to switch your brain off and enjoy the ride.

[@MarcoMM1]

Great reaction like always, this movie beautifully honors the iconic Natasha Romanoff, who finally receives the respectful, worthy solo film that her unforgettable legacy always deserved. Scarlett Johansson shines one last time. There are some fun-facts about it, the film was almost made before the MCU even existed, in 2004, David Hayter struck a deal with Lionsgate to write and direct a film featuring Black Widow. In 2006, Lionsgate dropped the project, and while Hayter and Marvel tried, they couldn’t find another studio to finance the film. Hayter moved on, though he said he was “heartbroken” about it. Johansson picked the director, eventually, Marvel whittled those directors down to three names: Amma Asante, Maggie Betts, and Cate Shortland. Johansson was a fan of Shortland’s film Lore and was the one who reached out to her about directing the film. That sway likely helped, as Shortland did end up getting the directorial job. Johansson, an executive producer on the film, and Feige decided the best time to set Black Widow would be after the events of Captain America: Civil War. Given the character’s death in Avengers: Endgame, a contemporary film was impossible. Early on, there was going to be a scene between Tony Stark and Natasha in the film, but it was nixed. Shortland and Feige decided they didn’t want any other Marvel heroes in the film, so Natasha could be the sole focus and carry the onus of her story. One character was changed from the comics. In the comics, Taskmaster is a mercenary named Tony Masters. He’s also a dude. In Black Widow, Taskmaster is turned into Antonia Dreykov to tie the character into the film's story. Interestingly, Olga Kurylenko’s turn as Taskmaster was completely missing from any promotional material for the movie. In the post-credits scene, Julia Louis-Dreyfus appears as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. This was supposed to be the introduction of the character. However, COVID-19 changed those plans. Things got moved around, and Val first appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier instead. The post-credits scene was added at the behest of Hawkeye showrunner Jonathan Igla. Disney was doing Premier Access during the pandemic, but the first time they announced revenue was for Black Widow. The company said Black Widow made $67 million in Disney+ first-weekend rentals. That is solid, especially considering that, according to reports, Black Widow was the most-pirated film of the pandemic. Johansson sued Disney over the simultaneous release, calling it a breach of contract that kept her from potential box-office bonuses. What followed was a couple of months teeming with bad-faith arguments and general unpleasantness because lawsuits bring out the worst in a lot of people, especially at such a high corporate level where billionaires and millionaires are fighting through high-salaried lawyers. After a few months, Disney and Johansson came to an undisclosed settlement. Keep up the good work.

[@brucer2152]

i could listen to Flourence Pugh talk in her Russian accent all day.

[@roystoyscomics1361]

The Contessa Valentina Allegro De La Fontaine has connections to S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as being married to Everett Ross former C.I.A. operative, former Deputy Task Force Commander of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre. Last seen in Black Panther. Played by actor Martin Freeman who also played Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit trilogy. 😅

[@gryndyl]

The shopowner in Budapest probably did not understand a word of their conversation.

[@krazkeelo9032]

Young Natasha, is the daughter of someone you may know. Ukrainian-American actress.

[@ricardoortiz4870]

35:53 Fun Fact: The actress portraying Antonia (Olga Kurylenko), is actually attractive in real life.

[@timlanteigne298]

See: Hitman

[@xaderalert]

She was a Bond girl

[@thereallyst]

18:06 They are in Budapest. He probably doesn't even speak English. Why would he understand what they are talking about? 25:53 In the comics he and Melina are different. Alexi is the first Red Guardian, a villain turned hero and is actually Natasha's HUSBAND and not her father like the movies, when both were agents for the Soviet Union. Melina was known as the Iron Maiden and had a strong hate for Natasha and hated living in her shadow. -Taskmaster was a guy in the comics and not a Soviet. -In the comics, Natasha changes her name from Natalia Romanova to Natasha Romanoff, the Western equivalent when she defects to S.H.E.I.L.D.

[@tahirahshabazz50]

Sean aka Shang Chi

[@jacksonhaslam2753]

Dreykov's daughter, or Taskmaster, is such a good fighter because she can perfectly mimic any person's fighting style. So, she can fight like all of the Avengers,

[@wickedfire91]

FWIW--in the comics, Natasha is "enhanced" with a form of the 'Infinity Formula' which slows her aging and gives her better strength, speed, reflexes, and durability. Because this film never had to worry about her dying, it's one kind of weakness is that the stunts are outrageously over the top. I didn't mind them, but a lot of people picked at how unrealistic it would be for Natasha to survive 3/4 of this film lol. So in my mind, the Red Room enhanced the Widows but not to the point of being Super Soldiers, which is a pretty easy way to close that kinda-sorta plot hole.

[@Icelandchan]

I liked the movie so much, as well. I was already in tears when the intro music played (after both girls were taken in). And it had so much emotions, Natashas back story and Yelena! Oh man...people already told you but I want to stress it again: You need to watch Hawkeye asap. :D (At the end, when Yelena whistled, I really thought that Natasha would answer but there was nothing...that destroyed me)

[@lambroslaw]

I dont think Valentina actually knew that he was with her on the planet, i think shes manipulating her. great video!

[@penguincgm489]

Every time Natasha has a happy moment with her family in this movie, I tear up, knowing that she would never got a chance to be happy like that with them again🥲

[@donaldfleming5049]

A little info on Dreykov's assassin. Character's name in the comics is Taskmaster, is a male character in the comics & has the ability to mimic or duplicate any move or skill that his opponent possesses. This ability is limited, however, in that he can't duplicate powers or abilities that fall outside the norm. For example, he can't lift Thor's hammer or call down lightning, nor can he 'Hulk-out' or crawl up & down walls like Spiderman. He can match Captain America's fighting style, but not his strength. He can also match Hawkeye's archery skills, and there's another Marvel character named Swordsman whose skill with a sword he can also duplicate. Magical abilities are outside of his range, as well as any supernatural or mutant abilities, which means that he might be able to match Wolverine's fighting style, but not his quick-healing ability or those fantastic adamantium claws.

[@passionsquietrage]

So is he considered a mutant or is he something else?

[@donaldfleming5049]

@@passionsquietrage In the comics, he's been described as a human mutate who acquired his 'photographic reflexes' abilities through the use of a modified version of the adrenal steroid cortisol. This differentiates him from a mutant, whose abilities are tied to the X-Gene in their genetic makeup.

[@passionsquietrage]

@@donaldfleming5049 So he's chemically enhanced, interesting.

[@rumbledumpthumpershaker6735]

Alexi Shostakov AKA the first Red Guardian is Natasha's formerly thought dead husband, now ex-husband in the comics. The guy that got his wrist broken has the same name as Ursa Major. Another member of Winter Guard along with all the Red Guardians. It's a mantel that gets passed often because they don't have super powers. Winter Guard is Russia's version of the Avengers.

[@chadbailey7038]

I enjoy watching MCU content with you. I appreciate your thoughtfulness to the characters and messages being told. U’re a lovely person 🙌🏾 ⚡️PS. This is one of my favorites. I loved the Black Widow solo film so much!

[@reactswithjax]

Thank you so much!!

[@user-EricWatson55]

In the comic books Natasha was trained in hand to hand combat by Wolverine. She referred to him as Little Uncle".

[@tahirahshabazz50]

Like this detail

[@erik_greymane]

Taskmaster in the comics is a man that has the ability to copy any moves he sees, wich is why in the comic "Deadpool kills the marvel universe" he is the person that lasts the longest against deadpool. 😁

[@glesnietutty8444]

If you think about it All the different Spidermans have they there own distinctive poses to I loved Natasha's pose this was such a great movie finally getting Natasha's backs story I already enjoyed watching this with you on Patreon but I still always watch your Friday morning up loads to KZbin.

[@LokmanSalikoon]

Yes, certain newer helicopters can go autopilot including take-off, landing, hovering, and following a track.

[@joshv9139]

The lip quiver was strong in that post credit scene

[@SciFiSwifitie]

Hey Jax, lovely reaction as always. Just wondering if Falcon and the winter soldier and Loki will come to KZbin at some point or are they Patreon exclusives?

[@c-mc]

she should've posted them first

[@Bodyknock]

One of the cool things in this movie is that Taskmaster literally is copying fight moves and stunts from the other MCU films (since her whole thing is that she can replicate any motions she’s studied.) There’s at least one montage on KZbin for example of side by sides of Taskmaster doing a move and the person she’s copying doing it. Grabbing the shield off the ground by kicking it like Captain America, dropping her knife mid-swing and catching it in her other hand like Bucky does in his fight against Cap, swinging in from he bridge in a Spider-Man stance, attacking Red Guardian with a kick that Black Panther used, etc. It’s a really cool detail they included in the stunt coordination. 🙂

[@Metindolunay1905]

The movie universe is different, but that's why I love comics. The stories are so deep. Yelena was in love with Natasha. The rejection disappointed her and she got the idea that she should be an enemy to him. Just like Eobard Thawne and Barry Allen in DC Comics were opposites, if one was good, the other would complete the balance by being bad.

[@marvinsarracino116]

Great movie and reaction! Luv how you blew lambys cover.🐑 Ugh! I luv Natasha's back story and that ending was really touching. You really got the feels with that post credit scene! Where was support lamby? Was he mad because you blew his cover? Haha lol. Thanks for sharing Jax!

[@reactswithjax]

Hahaha! I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Also, Lamby will have to retire now that I've blown his cover.

[@Jeff_Vader]

I don't think anyone has said this.... Young Natasha is Ever Anderson, daughter of Milla Jovovich and Paul W. S. Anderson

[@RichardFay]

The Black Widows were trained in/by The Red Room, which was run by the KGB. They existed even before WWII and play a part in the Agent Carter series. Dreykov, however, seems to have his own agenda. I think that it's canon in comics that Bucky and Natasha knew each other while Natasha was with the KGB. The problem in the MCU is that the Winter Soldiers were based in Siberia, that he was "activated" by code words in Russian and that he wore a red star on his shoulder - but he was employed by Hydra, which is NOT the KGB or even Russian. So far this hasn't been explained and probably won't be. In the comics, Taskmaster is a man, who was subjected to a process (possibly a variation of the Super Soldier serum) which gave him the ability to instantly learn any physical skill just by seeing it. Thus he can copy the skills of people like Captain America or Hawkeye (or Natasha), which makes him a very dangerous fighter. The Red Guardian was a Russian Super Soldier, their version of Captain America. He was never Natasha's stepfather, in fact I think they may have been married at some point - but that might just be part of a fictional "history" created by the KGB.

[@Bill-v6f]

In the comics there is a group of Soviet superheroes that sort of mirror the avengers. Red Guardian is a captain America copy there is the crimson dynamo who is like an Ironman. The big guy that Red Guardian breaks his wrist he calls Ursa. That would be Ursa Major who can transform into a very very strong bear, a bit of a hulk copy

[@arthurcamargo8416]

How long someone can fight depends on what style of fighting, training and conditioning. For example, the battle of Towton in 1461 lasted for 10 hours, with light clothing and using swords (think musketeers. The Battle at Cannae, on the other hand, lasted two days and soldiers were equipped with bronze helms, heavy thrusting spears, long javelins, and body armor (usually a heavy leather). As for the movie, many were hoping that when the movie was announced, that it would be an origin story for Natasha. Like you, many fans of Natasha were hoping to see what made Natasha the top tier Widow that she has become. Antonia is played by Olga Kurylenko, who is a fantastic actor! She has a lot of pretty good movies and TV shows, including one with fellow Marvel actor Charlie Cox (Daredevil). Check out her movie Momentum! You and Lambie did a great job with this movie, although, do we need to worry that you outed a super secret assassin on YT?

[@nyghtmoon]

The dinner scene is so awesome. It is really family and Russia

[@BeardiusMaximus]

Thank you so much for putting this out, even though you were clearly having "one of those days" (10:04). Such a fantastic and underrated movie! 49:07 Damnit Jax, your gasp of realization started me crying again! Welcome back to the MCU, btw 🙂And as usual, yet another wonderful reaction. See you for the next one

[@reactswithjax]

Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed this...until you started crying! 😂

[@BeardiusMaximus]

@@reactswithjax Oh, i'm always gonna cry when it comes to Natasha's death. So don't worry, it wasn't ENTIRELY your fault 🤣🤣🤣

[@tsholofelomakete]

Yelena killed that superhero landing and she looked so cute when she shook it off in disgust😊

[@RichardFay]

Look at everything that Nat survives in this film - fights, explosions, two car crashes, a fall from a 5 story building, and a high altitude skydive without a parachute. Are we really sure that falling off a cliff on Vormir would kill her ?

[@TimmyTOnTheFly]

Taskmaster in the comics learns and mimics every person they fight. That’s why you see hints of Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye just to name a few 🔥💯

[@pauldourlet]

Natasha is a Russian Super soldier. So is Bucky . Wolverine was part of the Super soldier Program --referred to as Weapon X (or Weapon 10).

[@anthonywilson7681]

Hydra was not discovered to have infiltrated SHIELD until around 2017

[@billysturgeon8616]

This is the first time that I have reacted to you. With your hair up like that you remind me of actress Erin Gray. She was in Buck Rogers from the 25th Century.

[@comicenthusiast]

You brought up a very legit point I never thought about. Natasha has been in multiple, dozens, possibly hundreds of fights, and she's never had that specific nerve that connects to the pheromone lock punched before? And also, SHIELD never found out about that pheromone lock? I assume Shield would have some pretty good deep tissue/skeletal scanners for medical reasons, yet they never found that nerve anomaly?

[@Easy_Skanking]

Yeah, pretty weak writing.

[@curtism-w6b]

oOo, your nails are so pretty. You must've spent extra for the crystal gel. 😂

[@reactswithjax]

Why thank you!! 😂

[@LilyWestergren-jg4np]

I hope you will upload your reactions to the rest of the series to KZbin! ❤️

[@paulstankavage910]

So speaking of Hand to Hand combat. In the Avengers vs Justice League Bruce stops the fight with Steve after neither able to get the advantage because he acknowledges that eventually Steve will win because Bruce will get tired first and there is no point to keep fighting. Instead the 2 slip away to find out who manipulated the teams into fighting

[@ericechols6056]

Black Widow is one of my favorite movies in the MCU. Glad to see your reaction to BW, Jax. I bet Lamby thought the movie was Baa-rillant and Lamb-tastic! 🐑😂👍 Fun Facts: A Black Widow film was almost made in 2004 before the MCU existed. Emily Blunt was first considered to play the role of Black Widow, in Iron Man 2. At one time actress Saoirse Ronan, was going to play Yelena Bulova character in BW. In Marvel Comics, Taskmaster is a male character who's a mercenary named Tony Masters. Marvel's Spin-off movie, Thunderbolts scheduled for 5/5/2025 release, reprising the roles of Yelena, (Florence Pugh) Alexei/Red Gaurdian, (David Harbour) Taskmaster/Antonia, (Olga Kurylenko) Melina Vostokoff, (Rachel Weisz).

[@raghuramsathwik3907]

Val is Preparing Her Own Team (Kind of Dark Avengers to say) in the place of Captain America She now Has US Agent and In the Place of Black Widow she will have Yelena

[@Ahjusshi_Brown]

Haven’t finished the reaction yet so not sure if you figured it out on your own but there’s no super soldiers involved in this movie (outside of Alexei). You kept saying they’re merging super soldiers/winter soldiers with black widows. Everyone involved are just widows. Task Master was also trained/groomed as a black widow but with the addition of having her constantly study, train in, and mimick the fighting styles of various marvel heroes and villains (after re-engineering her brain). Pretty sure they even upload files on whoever her next target is into her brain/programming. Either way, outside of all that, she’s not a super soldier just mind controlled/re-programmed like the other widows.

[@jhilal2385]

Melena is living every woman's dream: at middle age she can wear the skin-tight superhero suit of a woman 25 years younger and look great.

[@tomkvideo]

This movie takes place right after Civil War. When she tasers Black Panther so Cap and Bucky can escape. I wish they had shown that clip in a quick flash to help set it up a little better. The villain Taskmaster is one of my favorites. Their power is photographic reflexes, so they can learn and copy someone's fighting style instantly. That's why they were watching video footage during their introduction. He's male in the comics, but they made her female in the movie. Fine with me, but you better believe some boys on the internet starting shouting "WOKE!" and crap like that. I just hope they come back in a future movie or D+ show.

[@captainspike1913]

Taskmaster's gonna be in thunderbolts next year

[@CedricBassman]

That thing ain't Taskmaster.

[@johnniequinn3215]

@@CedricBassmanThe MCU is not the 616.

[@johnniequinn3215]

@@CedricBassmanThe MCU is not the 616.

[@Hybridial84]

So he is they now? Well that makes sense, when he has a mask he is he, without mask he is she.

[@blakewalker84120]

41:45 "How long can a person engage in physical combat before they are too exhausted to fight anymore?" Professional boxers fight up to 12 3-minute rounds and used to fight up to 15 rounds. So 45 minutes at least. But, they got a 1 minute rest between every round so that helps. MMA fighters fight 5 minute rounds without resting and can fight up to 5 of those rounds with only 4 1-minute rests between rounds. So, maybe, sustained unbroken fighting without resting can be done as a sport for about 5 minutes, but nobody falls over from exhaustion so presumably they could go longer than 5 minutes without needing a rest. No worries; Natasha's fight lasted less than 5 minutes. Long ago, boxing matches didn't have a "final round" - they just kept going until somebody couldn't go on anymore. Andy Bowen and Jack Burke on April 6, 1893 in New Orleans, Louisiana hold the record for the longest fight. The fight lasted 110 rounds over seven hours and 19 minutes, from 9:15 PM to 4:34 AM.

[@jedlogan392]

Great reaction Jax. You have to watch the Hawkeye series to get some closure.. It will make you like Helena even more.

[@JulianP311]

Every reaction I've seen to this includes Red Guardian throwing a trailer in 1995 and also surprise that he's a super soldier. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@thomasgarner-actingthestor5695]

I just realized you haven’t seen any of the Netflix Marvel shows have you? - Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Punisher…. Are you planning on seeing those? Many of those characters are being worked into the MCU cannon (Hawkeye series)

[@NPA1001]

A very underrated Marvel movie in my opinion, I know those invested in the comics don’t like what they did with Task Master but if you can beyond that Nat and Yelana are great..

[@hinesmaster99]

Annihilation with Natalie Portman is visually stunning

[@TobiasLundqvist-ys2xw]

I really liked this movie. It had all I wished for. And "the most disfunctional family ever seen in a movie" , was a nice bonus. 😅😂 Just loved them. Greetings from Sweden. 💙💛💙💛

[@JoeCensored]

This movie gets some hate, but I loved it. Saw it during peak covid in a virtually empty theater opening week.

[@gippywhite]

I am so glad you loved this movie so much!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻💙💙💙

[@BluEx22329]

Respect to black widow character

[@genghisgalahad8465]

As someone who's mind bogglingly seen LESS content now than your new reactions, KUDOS, Jax! I'm still catching up on John Wick film series, of all movies, if you can believe it! Life stuffs. Even LOGAN! My boy! An'ways, my point was, nudges from comments can maybe be for WHAT to see because at this point, if you haven't yet seen one particular content, it would be unfair to you for comments to tell you whats IN it and WHEN it is as you get to experience and realize it for yourself when it would be! As follow-ups go! You're meant to ask and wonder, wait, is this when...? Enjoy blindly as much as is reasonably fun to do!

[@ispbrotherwolf]

I love how you apply logic to this movie, I do the same for fun. I´m Neurodivergent and love to do the what/why/how game

[@michaelohearn6616]

Also, while I found nothing really wrong with this movie, the timing of its release was wrong. This should've been released prior to Infinity War as it would have had more impact in Endgame.

[@MasterNinjaTeddyBear]

I think more people than not would agree that this movie should have been released before endgame even if they kept post credits scenes to see how it all went down. Can’t wait to see your reaction to Loki

[@PhysicalMediaPreventsWea-bx1zm]

If it came out before Endgame the post credit scene should absolutely NOT have been included! It would have given away her death!

[@kat76woman]

The "poser" thing Yelena makes fun off is not Natasha specific. It is the classical superhero landing. All the heroes do it.

[@MikeKruzel]

Jax, Welcome to phase 4! The Americans on F/X with Keri Russell was a great show with a similar storyline.

[@WRDend]

What If?...you'll see a version of Natasha again..