Subscribe to The Film Board in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else you find your favorite podcasts!
Support The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts • Learn More or Subscribe Now: One-Reeler $1/mo or Two-Reeler $5/mo


Black Widow
“You both have killed so many people. Your ledgers must be dripping, just gushing red. I couldn't be more proud of you.”
The Film Board finds itself in the Red Room as we discuss Cate Shortland’s new entry into the MCU, Black Widow. It’s a full house on this episode as Andy Nelson is joined by Kyle Olson from Marvel Movie Minute, Matthew Fox from the Superhero Ethics podcast, Craig Price from Matinee Heroes, as well as CJ Lindsey and Jordan Petersen. The conversation ranges all over the place.
Here are some of our discussion points about Marvel’s Black Widow:
- Blue hair in the 90s – was it really a thing? How is the setup for our Soviet spies as an all-American family?
- And speaking of family, we love our family of Natasha, Yelena, Alexei and Melina as played by Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz and want more of all of them. And perhaps they read our minds because we’ll certainly be seeing more of Yelena!
- Marvel has to deal with the darkness of the Red Room and Natasha Romanov’s backstory here. Does this work for us, particularly in the opening credits depicting essentially an abduction trade of young girls?
- There are some big changes from the comics with Taskmaster and the Red Room. For instance, some people are up in arms about Taskmaster being a woman. We all like the change though.
- How great is Ray Winstone as the villain, even when his accent’s a bit off, because he’s Ray Frickin’ Winstone!
- Our solution is the red dust, but it’s not completely satisfying. What could have been stronger?
- And with F9 having just opened, what’s with all these storylines right now that are all about family?
It’s a fun film to talk about and a worthy entry into the MCU, even if delayed due to COVID (not to mention feeling long overdue). Join us in the board room on this episode as we have a great, spoiler-filled conversation!
Join the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel!
Film Sundries
Support The Next Reel Film Podcast by becoming a member of our community!
Also in The Film Board:
This Meeting is Called to Order.
Join the gang of thugs as we pull apart one new-release movie each month. From the big-budget popcorn events to art house indies, the board uncovers what works, what doesn't, and more.
Episode Hosts: Andy Nelson, CJ Lindsey, Craig Price, Jordan Petersen, Kyle Olson, Matthew Fox