#monkeypost

- The cast and crew basically all say that the heart of this film is a family drama around all the action/spy/thriller elements, and a story about familial love.

- In the 90s in Ohio, Alexei, Melina, Natasha, and Yelena act as a little spy family. David Harbour says Alexei took Natasha out of the Red Room for this and then brought her back after, and she’s accepted being told she was orphaned before all this without much interest in delving deeper. Yelena was brought to the Red Room after but recognizes their family as the only one she’s had. They both feel some betrayal from this family with Red Room stuff.

- Also, Melina apparently has a bit of a flame for Alexei, and in Rachel Weisz’s words: “Our relationship is quite passionate. We’re very into each other. We haven’t seen each other for almost twenty years, so we’ve been waiting a long time to kiss.” Pair that with David Harbour saying the film has some rom-com elements, sounds like there’ll be some fun Alexei/Melina moments.

- Yelena and Natasha are going to have such a fun relationship, there’s a lot of talk about how they play off each other very well in an older/younger sister dynamic, especially with the difference in their years of experience.

- Speaking of, Yelena’s a lot more fresh from the Red Room and looking to know herself more and the world. As we find Natasha post Civil War, she’s feeling kind of lost seeing all of her structure fall apart, and Florence Pugh says they kind of help to repair each other.

- In the film’s present, Melina is living on an isolated Russian pig farm as a scientist. Rachel Weisz enjoyed working with the pigs and says they were adorable.

- Unsurprisingly, there aren’t a lot of details about Taskmaster, but the fight director does use “him” specifically whereas everyone else is very careful to basically just use “Taskmaster.” They thought of Taskmaster like a pocketknife for coming up with fight stuff and how he responds, so that’s a fun and promising description!

- The Taskmaster vs. Natasha bridge fight sounds like it’s going to be kinda intense, and Taskmaster vs. Alexei is bound to be fun from available details and all.

- BUDAPEST. There are a few lines that make it seem like we’re going to get a more definitive answer, and then there are some that make it seem like we’re just going to get hints of the history of Budapest. Brian Chapek (co-producer) does specifically say that as Natasha “[walks] through her apartment you see evidence of things that had happened in Budapest so long ago.” Scarlett Johansson talks a little about the importance of Budapest, saying that there’s some unfinished business she carries some guilt about. “Black Widow is not about what happened in Budapest, but it’s a huge jumping-off point for us to understand the heaviness of Natasha’s burden.”

(Personally I think we’ll see a lot more of “present” Natasha and Yelena in Budapest and get more of glimpses/hints into the past than too much focus from all this, but theorize away!)

- Apparently the gulag/catwalk were based on a nuclear reactor to give that idea of basically just repurposing this space in Siberia for dangerous prisoners. Pair that with the trailer scene of Natasha swinging in via helicopter (plus Melina + Yelena in the helicopter) and a behind the scenes photo from this special of track suit Alexei hanging onto an airborne Natasha in her white suit, and it certainly seems like they’re specifically there to break Alexei out.

- O-T Fagbenle’s Mason character he describes as “a finder for people… who are part of the underworld. He can find anything you need as well.” He also comments that “there’s a sense that there’s more to [his and Natasha’s] relationship than it being purely work related.” He’s a really helpful person to have on her side, and he’s very generously willing to help her out, with Natasha not really paying in cash/credit and just telling him to put it on her tab.

- Brian Chapek’s final remarks: “This movie is very much about self-forgiveness... I hope audiences leave this movie instilled with a sense of hope for the future and the characters that Natasha has introduced us to throughout her journey.”

PROBABLY BIGGER SPOILERS BELOW

- Dreykov is confirmed as being the person in charge of the Red Room, albeit without being very hands on at all with the Widows.