Black Widow Confirms An Outdated Iron Man Villain Exists In The MCU

Warning: This post contains Black Widow spoilers.

In Marvel’s Black Widow, a reference is made to an older Iron Man villain that seemingly confirms their existence in the MCU. While Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova reunited with their “parents” in the film, the reunion had a rocky start, seeing how they were actually all agents undercover in America for General Dreykov and his Red Room. During this scene, Yelena makes a reference to none other than the Crimson Dynamo, a classic foe of Tony Stark in the comics that could very well be featured in future MCU projects.

Given Yelena’s youth during their mission in America, Natasha and their fake parents Alexei Shostakov and Melina Vostokoff were the only family she’d ever had. As such, the idea that she was nothing more than a job to her “father” Alexei hit her hard. This lead to heart to heart between Yelena and Alexei where she made an offhanded comment about him being the “Crimson Dynamo.” While he was actually the Soviet’s Red Guardian, the Crimson Dynamo is a real character from Marvel Comics that’s seemingly now been confirmed for the MCU thanks to Yelena.

The Crimson Dynamo’s first appearance was in 1963’s Tales of Suspense #46, created by Stan Lee and Don Heck to serve as a Russian rival to Iron Man. Additionally, the Crimson Dynamo is actually a suit not unlike Tony Stark’s, and there have been many Soviet soldiers to wear the armor over the years via the Crimson Dynamo program. However, the first to wear the suit was its inventor Anton Vanko, who should sound familiar to MCU fans. Anton Vanko was a partner of Howard Stark’s who betrayed him, and was also the father of Ivan Vanko in the films, the man who would later become the villain Whiplash in Iron Man 2. As a result, it’s certainly possible that Vanko could have served as the founder of Russia’s Crimson Dynamo program in the MCU.

While there have been several men and women to pilot various versions of the Crimson Dynamo armor, the current pilot in the comics is one Dmitri Bukharin. He’s also a member of the Winter Guard, Russia’s superteam of heroes that also includes Red Guardian and Ursa Major (who was also featured in Black Widow with a brief cameo). As a result, it’s very possible that the MCU could offer a fresh new take on a character who hasn’t been largely featured in the comics until very recently. Perhaps in the upcoming Armor Wars series coming to Disney+ or joining an MCU version of the team.

All things considered, the Crimson Dynamo would be a pretty interesting addition to the MCU, especially if Marvel Studios has future plans for David Harbour’s Red Guardian. Not only that, but Crimson Dynamo would absolutely be the perfect foe for Col. James Rhodes’ War Machine down the line as well. In any case, it’s a pretty fun reference to an Iron Man villain all the same in Marvel’s Black Widow, regardless of whether or not anything comes from it.

About The Author

Kevin Erdmann
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Kevin Erdmann is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers. With a major in Cinema Studies and a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin is pretty sure he’s writing for the right site. While Kevin is a huge Marvel fan, he also loves Batman because he’s Batman and is a firm believer that Han shot first. Disney also shares a big part of his fan patronage. Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise.

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