Despite the character meeting her tragic end during the events of the comic book epic Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow returns to the big screen later this year for her a solo adventure, appropriately titled Black Widow. The movie will introduce audiences to the Marvel spy's dysfunctional family, one of whom is played by Strangers Things star David Harbour. Playing Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. Red Guardian, Harbour has been discussing the role, calling him nothing less than the greatest character that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever seen.

"I think I'm biased, but I think it's the best character in all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I mean, he is a narcissist, so it's very appropriate that I'm playing him and that I think that. But he's just got so many layers. On one level, he's your classic superhero badass character, but then when you meet him, he has this need to be liked, and he wants to be thought of as funny and a big shot - which he isn't."

It is impossible to deny that the actor has some bias here, but from what we have seen on the Red Guardian so far in the marketing for Black Widow, it is also impossible to deny that he might be right. Looking like the kind of complicated, world-weary hero that Harbour plays so well, Red Guardian is certainly going to bring a different flavor to the MCU. from the trailers alone the character has been stealing to show, and along with the natural likeability and charm of David Harbour, it is possible that audiences will be leaving the cinema talking about him rather than Scarlett Johansson's titular assassin.

As excited as he is to bring the Red Guardian to life, David Harbour did also admit that he still would have probably signed up for a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe even if it wasn't as great of a character.

"Had they offered me a crappy part in a mediocre movie, I probably would've taken that too. But the fact of the matter is the script was really damn good, and the part is extraordinary."

The Red Guardian is a Russian agent who was created in response to America turning Steve Rogers into the super-soldier, Captain America. Similar to the Cold War between Russia and the US, the Soviets turned Alexei Shostakov into the Red Guardian. Though, unlike Rogers' natural affinity for the role of superhero, it sounds like Shostakov's relationship with his alter-ego is a lot more complicated.

Black Widow picks up following the events of 2016's Captain America: Civil War. Natasha Romanoff finds herself alone and forced to confront a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Romanoff must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

The movie is directed by Cate Shortland and written by Eric Pearson from a story by Jac Schaeffer and Ned Benson, and stars Scarlett Johansson who reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz.

Black Widow is scheduled to be released on May 1, 2020. This comes to us from Entertainment Weekly.