Black Widow’s surprising Loki connection is a major plot point
The God of Mischief has previously referenced a key figure from Natasha's past. **SPOILERS FOR BLACK WIDOW**
Fans have come to expect each entry in the MCU to be connected to what came before, but they might be caught off guard by which Marvel flick Black Widow is most closely associated with.
While the film is sandwiched between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, its narrative is actually directly tied into 2012's The Avengers, which gave us our first hints towards Natasha Romanoff's dark past.
There are references to Black Widow having "red in her ledger" as well as a long-awaited answer to what exactly happened in Budapest, both of which are connected to the most important reveal: the identity of Dreykov's daughter.
Read on for your full breakdown of the Black Widow twist, which was previously alluded to by Loki in The Avengers, but be warned that major spoilers follow.
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Black Widow: Who is Dreykov's daughter?
Dreykov's daughter is a mysterious figure who has been haunting Natasha Romanoff for many years, as an innocent victim who seemingly lost her life as a result of the spy's defection to SHIELD.
Dreykov himself (played by Ray Winstone) is the sinister head of the Red Room, the barbaric facility in which young girls were put through the Black Widow programme, which transformed them into ruthless assassins.
When Natasha sought to leave her murderous past behind her to fight for a more virtuous cause at SHIELD, she struck a deal that required her to kill Dreykov once and for all.
Desperate to escape her dark life, she authorised a strike on Dreykov's hideout in Budapest, despite the fact that she knew his young and innocent daughter would be caught in the blast radius – and likely killed.
She faces the consequences of that decision during the events of Black Widow, when it is revealed that both Dreykov and his daughter survived – the latter transformed into the terrifying Taskmaster, to be used as a puppet by her evil father.
If Dreykov's daughter rings a bell, it should. The character had previously been foreshadowed in a memorable scene from 2012's The Avengers (read on for details).
When was Dreykov's daughter mentioned in the MCU before?
While it lacks the enormous scope of Marvel's more recent crossover flicks, 2012's The Avengers still holds up as a strong entry in the franchise, helped in large part by its formidable villain: Tom Hiddleston's Loki.
While the character has increasingly adopted an antihero persona – particularly prevalent in his current Disney Plus series – back then, he was more of a clear-cut baddie and we saw his cruel side in a harsh exchange with Black Widow.
The SHIELD agent went to interrogate the God of Mischief while he was imprisoned on Nick Fury's helicarrier, hoping to work out his plan and the whereabouts of a compromised Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner).
Loki attempts to break her by recounting the sins of her past in a sinister monologue, delivered venomously after Natasha confesses to having "red in my ledger" and wishing to "wipe it out".
"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red?" asks Loki. "Dreykov's daughter. Sao Paulo. The hospital fire. Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?"
Natasha pretends that his spiteful words have broken her, when in reality she is simply goading him into revealing more details from his plan – a tactic that she utilises once again in her solo film.
Likewise, the idea of having red in one's ledger is brought back, with Natasha's false father Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian (David Harbour) describing it as something to be proud of in a comedic scene.
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Read more about the MCU's latest as we discuss the Black Widow timeline, the Black Widow ending, the Black Widow post-credits scene, a possible Black Widow 2 and how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
Black Widow arrives in UK cinemas on Wednesday 7th July and Disney Plus Premier Access on Friday 9th July. You can sign up to Disney+ for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.
Check out our Movies and Sci-Fi pages for more news and features, or our TV Guide for more to watch.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
