The great thing about the X-Men joining the MCU is that mutants will be able to scatter throughout the franchise, popping up where we least expect them. Sure enough, a new rumor is pointing to one of the best X-Men villains yet to be properly utilized in live-action making the leap to the screen in Black Widow 2, the sequel to the (still) upcoming spinoff for Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff.
Exactly what form that follow-up will take is unclear at the moment, as while Florence Pugh returning as Yelena Belova is a cert, following her first reprising her role in the Hawkeye TV show, it’s also possible that Johansson could be back as Nat one more time, too. Either way, the villain of the piece appears to already be in place, as according to the latest intel from Geekosity, Omega Red will feature in Black Widow 2.
Once you consider his origins story, it becomes clear that Red is a perfect fit for the Widow franchise. In the comics, the Russian-born Arkady Gregorivich Rossovich was a serial killer who was experimented on by the KGB in the hopes of creating a super soldier like Captain America. We know that Black Widow will introduce another of Russia’s attempts to cook up their own Cap in Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Red could be portrayed as the Carnage to Shostakov’s Venom.
In any case, the character has sort of turned up in a movie before now, as Red had a cameo in Deadpool 2. He can be seen as one of the inmates of the Ice Box supervillain prison, but only in the Blu-Ray extended edition of the Fox film. As you can see from the BTS photos above, though, actor Dakoda Shepley was made up to be a close match to the comic book character, teasing how he could end up looking in the MCU.
More on Black Widow 2 should come our way after the first pic finally hits theaters and Disney Plus this July, but in the meantime, let us know if you’d like to see Omega Red in the sequel.