Marvel Makes Black Widow’s Endgame Father Mystery Even More Confusing

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Marvel’s What If…? episode 9.

Marvel’s What If…? episode 9 furthered the confusion created by Avengers: Endgame’s Ivan reference. In the What If…? season finale, Captain Carter namedropped Alexei (Red Guardian) and mentioned the name of Natasha’s father – Ivan – in an effort to earn the character’s trust. However, this ultimately did little to clear up the character’s complex and convoluted MCU origin story.

Captain Carter’s exchange with Black Widow in Marvel’s What If…? marked the second time that the MCU has acknowledged her father by name. The first was in Avengers: Endgame, when Black Widow and Hawkeye used time travel to visit Red Skull on Vormir to retrieve the Soul Stone. Upon their arrival, Red Skull greeted Natasha as the “daughter of Ivan”. After this scene, Black Widow herself admitted that she didn’t know anything about her biological father, or that his name was Ivan. Red Skull seemed to be the only MCU character who had this information.

To this day, Ivan’s identity is still a mystery. At the time of the reference, it was commonly assumed that Marvel was planning on paying it off in Black Widow’s solo adventure. While her movie did prove to be a family story and a deep dive into Natasha’s backstory, it never did explain Red Skull’s Ivan remark in Avengers: Endgame. The movie’s failure to discuss her father raised questions about why it was included in the first place. Endgame made Ivan seem important, but Black Widow glossing over him suggested otherwise. Even though it’s likely to remain an unsolved MCU mystery since Black Widow’s story is over, Marvel’s What If…? inexplicably revisited this loose end. This unnecessarily compounded the mystery.

The mention of Ivan in What If…? episode 9 is confusing enough on its own, but what makes it an even bigger head-scratcher is the fact that Captain Carter knows about him. Though she and Black Widow are self-proclaimed “BFFs” in Captain Carter’s What If…? timeline, it’s still difficult to understand how Peggy would know this detail about Natasha’s past. Natasha shouldn’t have been able to share her family history with Peggy since even she wasn’t aware of Ivan’s name in Endgame. This version of Natasha shouldn’t have a different backstory to the one in the main timeline, so it’s not clear how either of them would know about Ivan. His existence should be a secret in Captain Carter’s universe and the Marvel Zombies universe that What If…?’s Black Widow comes from.

Since Marvel’s What If….?,Avengers: Endgame, and Black Widow never explored the truth about Black Widow’s father, his identity is still open to speculation. Whoever he is, his name is likely a nod to Ivan Petrovich. In the Silver Age of Marvel Comics, Ivan rescued an orphaned Natasha Romanoff during World War II. He became a father figure to Natasha, and later served as her chauffeur during her superhero days. Endgame indicated that Marvel would offer a twist on his connection to Natasha, but it looks like that idea has been abandoned.

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