We have just a little over three months to go until the first movie of MCU Phase 4 hits theaters, but those of you who can’t wait to find out what happens next are in luck. A series of huge leaks have already spoiled the Black Widow plot. We’re calling them the October 2019 and November 2019 leaks, and you should read them (at this link) before moving forward to the newest leak, which we’ll refer to as the January 2020 leak. That’s because the newest leak doesn’t only reaffirm the previous ones, but also reveals the action in the film’s two credits scenes. And one of them is apparently the first huge twist of MCU Phase 4, although it shouldn’t really be a surprise to fans. After all, Black Widow is a prequel film that will give us a different look at Natasha.
Marvel obviously isn’t just going to start Phase 4 with a prequel and not have the bigger picture in mind. Whatever happens in Black Widow, even if these leaks aren’t accurate, will influence the future of the MCU after Endgame and Far From Home. Before we look at the credits scenes though, make sure you stop reading here if you’re looking to avoid Black Widow spoilers.
The October and November leaks tell us that Natasha isn’t just running from the governments in the fallout of Civil War, she’s also chasing a Foxcharge gadget that can erase one’s digital identity from any governmental database known to man.
The villain of the film is Taskmaster. And it turns out that the Taskmaster is Mason (O-T Fagbenle), Nat’s former lover and a former SHIELD agent. Moreover, Nat’s sister from her Black Widow days, Yelena, will end up saving Nat’s life and killing Taskmaster at the end of the film, just as he’s about to get the drop on Natasha — here’s the relevant passage from the November leak:
Taskmaster always seems to know where they will be. The film makes you think all of her allies could be him. He is able to perfectly mirror all the combat styles. Has a memorable fight with Red Guardian. A dirty bar fight version of Cap vs. Cap in Endgame.
He has a tank/mobile command center that drives itself. Think Idris Elba’s badass motorcycle in Hobbs and Shaw. This is gonna steal the show in the same way.
The Arc of the film is very much this wild world calling Natasha back to it, and her trying to get her family out of it.
Mason is revealed to be Taskmaster and kills Red Guardian in front of Natasha and Yelena during a climactic fight between all of them and Melina. The remaining Black Widows turn on Iron Maiden, and she ends up locked in the red room torture chamber to get her justice.
Yelena kills Taskmaster by shooting him through his broken mask as he is about to kill Natasha.
This brings us to a brand new Black Widow leak that was posted on 4chan on Sunday. The leak pretty much confirms the previous leaks without providing as many details about the plot:
tldr; it’s okay. It’s Marvel Studios capeshit version of Mission Impossible/John Wick
Saw Black Widow today, and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s basically a Mission Impossible sequel with Black Widow replacing Ethan Hunt, and it works better than you’d expect.
Same plot beats. Excommunicated, hunted by the government, get this thing so life can go back to normal, oh no, there’s a grander conspiracy, save the world, give the thing to your sister, deal with the consequences, peace out.
All of the action involving the skull guy(Taskmaster? Idk he doesn’t have a supervillain name in the movie) was dope. It’s a little obvious he’s Black Widows ex, but it’s pulled off well enough. The real twist is Rachel Weisz is bad, and skullguy and Florence Pugh are working together for William Hurt.
David Harbour was the worst part of it to me. Super cheesy forced quip guy. His death was welcome even though it’s played for tears.
The end is a CGI helicopter crash fuckfest like all MCU movies, but the hand to hand fights all kick ass.
There’s a reoccurring joke about a chest of drawers that is fucking hilarious.
Hawkeye, RDJ, Nick Fury, and fuckin Walton Goggins have cameos. Some of them work better than others. Stark scene felt like Leia in Rise of Skywalker.
Anyway, didn’t hate it. 6.5/10
This brings us to the more exciting revelation that’s detailed later in the thread when the same leaker reveals the contents of Black Widow’s credits scenes. If you thought the Taskmaster’s identity revelation would be the film’s big twist, well, that’s not even close.
If this information is accurate, then Yelena and Taskmaster were working together with Thaddeus Ross from the get-go, and you only learn that in the post-credits scenes:
Two post-credit scenes I saw.
One is Florence Pugh and skullguy giving William Hurt the flash drive thing, and him telling them they are just getting started.
End credit is Hawkeye in a guess the present because he’s all tatted up and shit. He’s at Nat’s grave with his kids.
The final post-credits scene, per the quote above, does justice to Natasha following Endgame. Some fans were highly critical of the fact that Marvel chose not to honor Nat officially at the end of Endgame, as was the case for Stark, even though she sacrificed just as much as he did. Having Hawkeye show up at her grave is certainly one way to help fix that.
The first credits scene, however, is what matters most for the MCU going forward. It looks like Ross is looking to build a team of highly gifted individuals of his own, one that could operate in the shadows without having to register with any authority. Of course, that powerful Foxcharge device could definitely come in handy.
If this info is accurate, then Ross might have started recruitment for this team of bad guys well before Infinity War. And he might continue doing it after Endgame. As a reminder, Thaddeus Ross was Snapped in 2018 and remained dead until 2023 when Hulk resurrected everyone. In other words, it makes perfect sense to assume he’ll keep working on his secret project with even more conviction given what just happened to the world. Is Ross forming some sort of Thunderbolts team? We’ll just have to wait and see.
