Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been awaiting a solo Black Widow movie for some time now, and lucky for them, that very movie is set to be released later this year. Last night we got a new Black Widow trailer.

As we see, appearing alongside a returning Scarlet Johansson as the titular Black Widow is Stranger Things star David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian. Harbour has been speaking about the movie recently, and provided some details regarding the Red Guardian's intriguing origins.

"He's this guy who is closely linked to Natasha back in the day. I don't think it's been quite revealed exactly how, but I think you can see in the family dynamic that he was a bit of a fatherly figure to her. And a number of years go by and he's past his prime. So he gets back into his superhero outfit, and it still fits, but it's a little tighter than before. I think the great thing about the Red Guardian is he really is- he was the Captain America of his day for Russia. And he was the great hope of Russia, in a certain sense."

The likening of the character to MCU staple Captain America is very interesting indeed, and perhaps suggests that Red Guardian will be like an alternate version of Cap, one who has let himself go a bit and is somewhat rougher around the edges. It certainly sounds like a lot of backstory to get through, but at least we can rest easy knowing that Black Widow plans to flesh out these new characters.

Harbour echoes this idea as he continues to discuss the character, suggesting that Black Widow is far from the only member of this superhero family to have a dark past.

"And he kind of, as you'll see in the movie, he blew it in certain ways and he's trying to start up again. I really like that angle on a superhero. All the talk with superhero's can be focused on their invincibility, so where do you find the cracks in that? And Red Guardian has tons of cracks all over him. And he's not the heroic, noble man that you want him to be. He both comically and tragically has a lot of flaws. And I love that about it. And also, he has a lot of strengths."

We have seen how well Harbour can play flawed, heroic types from his exemplary work as Jim Hopper in Netflix's Stranger Things and so it is no surprise that fans are highly looking forward to the addition of the actor to the MCU.

Black Widow sees Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in this upcoming action-packed spy thriller from Marvel Studios'. Following the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), Natasha Romanoff finds herself alone and forced to confront her past. Alongside Johansson stars Florence Pugh as Yelena, Rachel Weisz as Melina and David Harbour as Alexei aka The Red Guardian. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, Black Widow hits theaters on May 1, 2020. This comes to us from The Wrap.