Black Widow 2 Will Reportedly Introduce A Popular X-Men Villain

The great thing about the X-Men joining the MCU is that mutants will be able to scatter throughout the franchise, popping up where we least expect them. Sure enough, a new rumor is pointing to one of the best X-Men villains yet to be properly utilized in live-action making the leap to the screen in Black Widow 2, the sequel to the (still) upcoming spinoff for Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff.

Exactly what form that sequel will take is unclear right now. Florence Pugh returning as Yelena Belova is a cert, following her first reprising her role in the Hawkeye TV show. However, it’s also possible that Johansson could be back as Nat one more time, too. Either way, the villain of the piece appears to already be in place. According to the latest intel from Geekosity, Omega Red will feature in Black Widow 2.

Once you consider his origins story, it becomes clear that Omega Red is a perfect fit for the Widow franchise. In the comics, the Russian-born Arkady Gregorivich Rossovich was a serial killer who was experimented on by the KGB in the hopes of creating a super-soldier like Captain America. The first movie will introduce another of Russia’s attempts to cook up their own Cap – Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour). Red could be portrayed as the Carnage to Shostakov’s Venom.

The character has sort of turned up in a movie before now, as Red had a cameo in Deadpool 2 – he can be seen as one of the inmates of The Ice Box supervillain prison, but only in the Blu-Ray extended edition of the Fox film. As you can see from the BTS photos above, actor Dakoda Shepley was made up to be a close match to the comic book character, teasing how he could end up looking in the MCU.

More on Black Widow 2 should come our way after the first Black Widow finally hits theaters and Disney Plus this July.