Black Widow will be set in the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War, we know that much, with Natasha Romanoff laying low and reuniting with her old Russian family after becoming a fugitive of the law thanks to helping Steve Rogers in the Sokovia Accords conflict. Looking at the evidence, though, it’s possible that the movie could draw more directly from Civil War‘s plot than we’re expecting, as it may solve a mystery that’s gone unanswered in the MCU all these years.
Let’s think back to the opening sequence of that 2016 team-up film. It begins with the Avengers battling Crossbones in Lagos, Nigeria, with the mercenary attempting to steal a dangerous biological agent from the Institute of Infectious Diseases. Though he didn’t get away with the sample, Crossbones’ switch to suicide bomber resulted in a significant loss of life. This incident then became the impetus for the Sokovia Accords. But the question of who hired Crossbones to fetch the agent was pushed to the side.
ScreenRant suggests that perhaps Brock Rumlow’s mysterious bosses are at it again in Black Widow though, with Taskmaster serving as their latest operative. There are two pieces of evidence that support this theory in the trailers. One is that Natasha is seen with some red vials. Fans have various ideas about what these could be, but maybe they’re another biological agent that Taskmaster is trying to get hold of for his paymasters.
Secondly, the trailers make it look like the third act of the film will see Team Black Widow storming a scientific facility. So, the heroine may track down Taskmaster (and Crossbones’) enigmatic employers to this place and what they’ve been up to is finally revealed. This might not be the case, of course, but it’s a smart theory based on what we know so far and it’s worth considering, at least, while we wait for Black Widow to arrive in theaters this May.