Exclusive: David Harbour’s Red Guardian Getting A Series
Thanks to some work from a trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot, we have exclusively learned that a Red Guardian series starring David Harbour is in development.
Update: While David Harbour’s Red Guardian doesn’t appear to be getting his own series, he is set to have a role in Marvel’s Thunderbolts.
Scarlett Johansson’s solo movie, Black Widow, introduced David Harbour as Red Guardian. After the movie’s release, the conversation quickly shifted to the actress’s lawsuit against Disney. But before that happened, David Harbour was trying to focus the conversation on his character, specifically, on his desire for a solo project for the hero. While he said that conversations were happening, he also said he knew his character wasn’t going to reenter in Marvel’s Phase 4, so he was pitching ideas for the future. That was months ago, in the summer of 2021. Now, as the year is coming to a close, we have an update.
Thanks to some work from a trusted and proven inside source for Giant Freakin Robot, we have exclusively learned that a Red Guardian series starring David Harbour is in development. The new series will stream on Disney+ as a new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At this point, the show is just in development, so David Harbour’s previous interpretation of the timeline seems right, it is unlikely to be part of Phase 4, but it is in motion.
We were unable to confirm what the Red Guardian series will be about. Previously, David Harbour mentioned that he had pitched two story ideas. One could serve as a sort of origin story for his character. He didn’t go into too many details about the idea, but said that seeing Red Guardian in his prime was something that was interesting to him. It would definitely be interesting for audiences and has the potential of showing what happened between his character and Captain America.
This idea would seem like a lot of fun for the series to tackle. One issue for a prequel story could be the actor’s age. How much younger would David Harbour need to look to go back in time to his character’s beginnings? However, if the actor himself was pitching the idea, it seems likely that he believes it’s something the makeup department will be able to believably handle.
Taking on a different point in the timeline sounds like a strong option for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It makes it so that David Harbour’s Red Guardian series could reveal things from the past that are relevant to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe story, without having to set up as many things in the current timeline. This has been an option they’ve used in the past in their movies, like Captain America: The First Avenger and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, so it’s certainly an idea that could be on the table.
David Harbour also pitched a second idea that takes place after Endgame. He wanted to see his character learn of Black Widow’s death, hear the story wrong, and then go after Hawkeye on a vengeance mission. However, that very much sounds like what’s been set up for Florence Pugh’s character in the post-credits scene of Black Widow, so it seems unlikely that they took this pitch for Red Guardian.
With David Harbour seeming so passionate for Red Guardian, it’s going to be great to see what he ultimately does next with the character for Marvel. Hopefully, this will mean more appearances for his hero in other projects leading up to the new series.
