One of the MCU’s most recent films,Captain America: Brave New World, was met with divisive reviews from both critics and fans alike, with the re-emergence of the Hulk-related villain named The Leader, forcing Sam Wilson’s Captain America into direct conflict with the Red Hulk. However, according to an MCU prelude comic from around the time the original Avengers film debuted,the now-deceasedBlack Widowhad more to do with the setup ofCaptain America: Brave New Worldthan she ever received credit for.
Introduced in 2010’sIron Man 2as Tony Stark’s new assistant,Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widowwas a badass Red Room assassin turned S.H.I.E.L.D operative and eventually became an original member of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, for her efforts. InMarvel’s The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week #7, Nick Fury is dealing with a wild situation involving the Hulk and Abomination set beforeThe Avengersbut duringThe Incredible Hulkfilm, withFury dispatching Black Widow to capture a still on the loose Leader, resulting in his incarceration inCaptain America: Brave New World.
Black Widow Captured the Leader in the MCU Leading to His Imprisonment in Captain America: Brave New World
Marvel’s The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week #7 - 2012 (Christopher Yost, Eric Pearson, and Agustin Padilla)
An MCU tie-in series that tracks S.H.I.E.L.D.’s actions during Phase 1, more specifically for this issue, what they were up to around the time ofThe Incredible HulkandIron Man 2, with Nick Fury shown to be working alongside Black Widow as she traces the destruction caused by Hulk and Abomination’s recent fight. Eventually discovering a now-mutatedSamuel Sterns aka The Leader, in the rubble of a nearly destroyed apartment building, Sterns first attempts to bring Natasha to the dark side, only to be shot in the leg by her a moment later.
Unswayed by The Leader’s insidious offers of “an illustrious future defined by power and influence,” Black Widow immediately calls S.H.I.E.L.D. for a “cleanup team” after subduing Sterns with his non-life-threatening injury — a call that eventually leads the Leader to be imprisoned by General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, a reoccurring MCU character who had also appeared in previous issues. Needing to leave Sterns behind after Natasha sees the Hulk continuing his rampage through NYC,the next time fans see the Leader is inCaptain America: Brave New World, all thanks to the valiant efforts of Black Widow.
Black Widow Was Active Before Her Canonical Onscreen MCU Debut in a Comic-Exclusive Prequel Story
Black Widow Also Dealt with Bruce Banner’s Hulk in This Series
Still incarcerated at the beginning ofBrave New World, Sterns was forced by Ross — now the President of the United States — to take the blame for the Hulk and Abomination’s destruction across New York City, and is kept locked up during the time between these comic-exclusive events and the latest Cap film. Secretly taking part in dosing Ross’ heart pills with trace amounts of gamma radiationto create Red Hulk, this prequel comic obviously doesn’t go as far as setting that event up but stillmanages to act as a necessary piece of MCU lore that fans need to know.
Black Widow received a solo MCU film in 2021.
AlthoughBlack Widow officially died inAvengers: Endgame, her actions before her death are just as important, with her hand in bringing The Leader to heel being a little-known moment in the MCU thatshows just how much the superhero community really owes Natasha. It remains to be seen if The Leader will make another appearance in the MCU post-Captain America: Brave New World, especially now that he’s now finally back behind bars, but if he does, he’ll be happy to know that the person who first helped put him there,Black Widow, won’t be around to put him back.
Marvel’s The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week #7is available from Marvel Comics.
