The long awaited return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally here! After its release was delayed for over a year, Black Widow landed in movie theatres and on premium Disney + this week. The story follows Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) after the events of Captain America: Civil War. When a conspiracy arises with ties to her past, Natasha must dig up the parts of her life that she had hoped to keep buried forever. Not only does she need to deal with her history of being a spy, but she must also find the family that she thought she left behind.

I’ll come right out and say that Black Widow was never my favorite Avenger. Perhaps a large reason for that is because I’m not a fan of Scarlett Johansson. Still, this movie was much needed to put together pieces of the puzzle. It was important to know where Natasha had come from, though I must say that there wasn’t much in regards to her backstory. I thought we would see more about her start as a spy and her life before she became an Avenger, but that was skipped over.

In true Marvel fashion, the sets and special effects were on point. I feel like they always go above and beyond and this was no exception. Maybe it was also because it had been so long since we last had a movie in this franchise that made it seem more spectacular. In a way, it almost felt wrong not watching it in a cinema.

My favorite part of the whole thing was meeting Nat’s family. Alexei (David Harbour) and Melina (Rachel Weisz) as her parents were so dead on. It was awesome to have both of them join this fandom. However, I do believe that Florence Pugh as Yelena stole the show. She shone in every single one of her scenes and brought some much needed comedic relief. I cannot wait to see more of her in this role as the saga progresses.

While I did enjoy the film, I wasn’t too keen on the villain. To me, he didn’t seem fleshed out enough and I know that Marvel has had more intense bad guys. Also, I tend to get confused during these films because of their small and intricate details. I’m more of a straight forward kinda gal and found myself getting lost during the course of the story. That being said, I am looking forward to seeing how this has set the tone for future instalments and I am happy that Marvel is back!

Rating: ♥♥♥.5