What's The James Bond Movie Natasha Watches In Black Widow?
Contains spoilers for "Black Widow"
After getting delayed by over a year, "Black Widow" is finally out for all to see, and judging from the critical response, it was well worth the wait. Many critics have said it's a top-tier Marvel movie that gives Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), the send-off she deserves. She may have met a heroic end in "Avengers: Endgame," but thanks to her first solo adventure, her sacrifice has more meaning than ever before.
A common talking point of the film is how it isn't your standard superhero fare. Instead, it borrows more from spy elements. We finally get a chance to see Black Widow put her SHIELD training to good use as she teams up with her estranged family to take on a mysterious new threat.
As a result, "Black Widow" feels more akin to something like the "James Bond" films as opposed to a flick like "Iron Man." The influence of 007 is clear as day as espionage and double-crosses run rampant. The filmmakers didn't make much of an attempt to hide the inspiration, and in one "Black Widow" scene in particular, Natasha demonstrates her love of the spy genre.
Black Widow watches 1979's Moonraker in one scene
Up until this point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow has always been all business. But with her solo feature, we finally see what she likes to do when she has some downtime: drink beer and watch old "James Bond" movies. What else are you going to do after saving the world from a murderous robot?
Specifically, the movie Natasha decides to watch in "Black Widow" is 1979's "Moonraker," starring Roger Moore as James Bond. It's apparently one of her favorites, as she recites some of the dialogue from the scene in which Bond has just escaped from a deadly python belonging to Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale). No, there's no relation between Hugo and Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) from the MCU.
However, the beat is more than a simple shoutout. "Black Widow" features several other references to the classic spy film. "Moonraker" opens with one of the most astonishing skydiving action sequences put to film, while "Black Widow" ups the ante by putting Natasha in a similar situation for the film's finale. On top of that, the antagonists in each movie stay out of the authorities' sight by keeping their fortresses in the sky where no normal man could tread. If Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) ends up headlining "Black Widow 2," we'd like to put in a request for it to borrow elements from "Skyfall."
"Black Widow" is now playing in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access.