Based on nothing but the words to have come out of his mouth over the last week or so, David Harbour is clearly hoping that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has some big plans in store for his Red Guardian, who provided plenty of comic relief and no small amount of muscle in box office and streaming smash hit Black Widow.
Alexei Shostakov is an interesting character with plenty of untapped potential in his backstory that ties him to any number of major events and marquee characters all across the MCU, so there’s no shortage of avenues for him to return anywhere as part of the theatrical or Disney Plus lineup.
As Russia’s sole surviving super solider with a Captain America obsession he barely even tries to hide, it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine him crossing paths with Sam Wilson or Bucky Barnes somewhere down the line. Should Florence Pugh end up inheriting the mantle of Black Widow and headlining a solo movie of her own, then you’d expect Harbour to show up in that one, too.
However, in a new interview the Stranger Things star revealed he’s got two ideas for where Red Guardian could pop up next, and one of them is tied directly to the post-credits scene of Black Widow.
“I have two ideas. One is seeing Red Guardian back in his prime. That’s interesting to me. But the other is going off this story, having this experience with Natasha and having this beautiful end when he takes her hand and says, ‘I can’t even speak to you because I would mess it up’. When he finds out that she was on that cliff with Hawkeye and maybe the version of the story he hears is that Hawkeye pushed her off or something, it’s a moment when Red Guardian turns back to the guy he was. He now wants vengeance for her. That I feel would play well.”
Harbour has already voiced his desire for a Red Guardian vs. Captain America fight, but while he was de-aged for Black Widow‘s prologue, a solo project might be a step too far at the moment. Having him come up against Clint Barton would make a great deal of sense, though, even if the 46 year-old hasn’t been confirmed for Hawkeye alongside Pugh, but once the show’s narrative resolves itself, we could see them unite to reminisce about Natasha, throw down or even team up.