Exclusive: Marvel Developing Winter Guard AKA Russian Avengers Project
We've exclusively learned that a Winter Guard project is on the way. Here's what we know so far.
This article is more than 2 years old
At this point, it seems like Scarlett Johansson’s run as Black Widow for Marvel is over. There are still hints from some, including Marvel boss Kevin Fiege himself, that she may return, but after Endgame and Black Widow, it feels to many like we’ve seen Scarlett Johanson as Black Widow for the last time. This raises some questions, though. For example, would Marvel really introduce Black Widow’s background in her solo film, giving us characters like David Harbour’s Red Guardian, and have that be the end of it? At this point, every movie leads to more stories that will further expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right? Thanks to some work from one of our trusted and proven inside sources, we know of at least one new project ahead. As it turns out, we are headed toward a Winter Guard project for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Fans of the Marvel comics know the Winter Guard as something like a Russian version of the Avengers. Red Guardian, the character we met in Black Widow played by David Harbour, is often considered the Captain America of the Winter Guard when comparing the two groups. We weren’t able to learn if Marvel is yet planning for David Harbour to be part of their Winter Guard project, but it feels like a very strong bet. Kevin Feige has said in interviews that he feels a David Harbour return is a “strong bet“. Interviews with the actor himself have shown that he’s enthusiastic about the role and make it sound like he’d enjoy revisiting it.
Long before the release of Black Widow, David Harbour suggested that fans watch the movie closely for things that would hint at the Winter Guard. It now makes a lot of sense that Harbour would be suggesting Marvel fans watch for these clues if he knew at the time that a Winter Guard project was a possibility and he wanted to see that happen. The more excited fans get about seeing the full Winter Guard someday, the more likely it will be to happen. It seems likely that Dabid Harbour knew of this possibility and was hoping to see it happen.
We know that Marvel is developing a Winter Guard project. It seems a safe bet that Red Guardian will be involved and that David Harbour as Alexie Shostakov would take up the mantle again. As for other members of the Winter Guard, here’s hoping that the giant humanoid bear, Ursa Major, is part of the cast. The Winter Guard is a group that changes a lot, but other members often include Crimson Dynamo V, who can be thought of as the Iron Man for the Russian group, Darkstar, Sibercat, Perun, Chernobog, and Vostok, a robot that is sometimes called Sputnik.
Members like Crimson Dynamo V, with strong similarities to Iron Man, may be characters that Marvel leans away from so as not to confuse the Winter Guard with the Avengers. It’ll be interesting to see if that’s wrong and they decide to lean into those similarities instead.
As Marvel moves forward with plans for their Winter Guard, we’re going to be watching for more hints from David Harbour and news on where they’ll go with this. While we know that this project is coming, we don’t know when. It seems fair to guess that it’s a couple of years away from being on our screens. It also seems fair to guess that we’ll be seeing more of David Harbour in other Marvel projects along the way to keep audiences excited about his character and hopefully more characters that we’ll be seeing join the Winter Guard project.
