Black Widow’s Dreykov Fixes The MCU Villain Problem (By Being Irredeemable)

Warning: SPOILERS for Black Widow.

Black Widowfixed the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s traditional villain problem by introducing a genuinely irredeemable Big Bad, General Dreykov (Ray Winstone). Dreykov was revealed as the Russian spymaster who created the Red Room and the Black Widow program, and he’s responsible for countless appalling acts that ruined the lives of an untold number of girls, including Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz). Unlike many of the MCU’s other villains, there’s nothing to like about Dreykov and that’s a good thing.

Marvel Studios excels at creating characters who become beloved by fans and that’s proven true of the villains as well as the heroes. Loki (Tom Hiddleston) charmed audiences to the point where he’s been redeemed and now stars in his own Disney+ series. Fans walked away from Black Panther feeling like Erik Killmonger’s (Michael B. Jordan) position on the impact Wakanda could make on the world had some merit. The Winter Soldier was revealed to be Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) childhood friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and he became a fan favorite and a hero. Even Thanos (Josh Brolin) had a few qualities that could be considered debatably admirable. Many fans have even been conditioned to like the MCU’s supervillains and often expect the bad guys to have a somewhat identifiable point of view because of the adage that ‘the villain is the hero of their own story.’

However, Black Widow broke the MCU’s mold with Dreykov. He’s not a costumed supervillain and he has no codename or superpowers (except for a pheromone lock that keeps the Widows from attacking him), but Dreykov is a truly contemptible monster. When he’s first introduced in Black Widow‘s prologue, Dreykov merely seems to be Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian’s (David Harbour) Russian overseer. But Dreykov immediately betrays the young Natasha (Ever Anderson) and Yelena (Violet McGraw) and traffics them, along with numerous other young girls, into the sinister Black Widow program. By the time Natasha comes face-to-face with Dreykov in the Red Room, she realizes the scope of his evil: Dreykov planted brainwashed Widows all over the world in his bid to exercise control over the world’s nations. He also wanted to brainwash Natasha so that he would have an Avenger doing his bidding. But worst of all is what he did to so many girls via the Black Widow program.

Dreykov’s innumerable crimes are repulsive: the old general spent decades kidnapping, abusing, torturing, violating, victimizing, and murdering girls. This even includes his own daughter Antonia (Olga Kurylenko), who he turned into a mind-controlled assassin called Taskmaster. Compare how Dreykov treats his daughter to Thanos, who at least showed affection for Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Dreykov uses the Widows as disposable pawns; he cares nothing for their lives and doesn’t even see them as people. Indeed, Dreykov’s mad lust for power is driven by loathsome misogyny. When Natasha confronted him, she realized Dreykov was completely irredeemable, and Dreykov absolutely deserved to die. But the benefit of Dreykov being so despicable is that his villainy shined a light on how genuinely heroic Natasha turned out to be and is.

Black Widow is really about Natasha, Yelena, Melina, and Alexei making Dreykov pay for the horrors that he inflicted upon their lives, which is what finally forged their fake ‘family’ into a real one. Dreykov also had to die so that Natasha could avenge the hundreds of girls Dreykov victimized, including Yelena and herself. Alexei isn’t even one of the little girls Dreykov preys upon but he still betrayed his ally and threw the Red Guardian into a gulag for the rest of his life.

Thankfully, General Dreykov is not destined to become a pop culture icon, nor should he be. There won’t be any “Dreykov was right!” memes and no one will be clamoring for Dreykov to get his own Disney+ show. Black Widow‘s Big Bad is truly detestable and beyond salvation but that’s also why Dreykov is such a breath of fresh air as an MCU villain.

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