Serial Box (Now Realm) launched “Black Widow: Black Blood” in 2020 and unfortunately missed the mark for optimal discoverability. 2021’s Black Widow movie missed its original theatrical release date due to the coronavirus pandemic and the hype surrounding the fourth Avengers movie.

While both stories share the same core character from the comics, they have different ways of utilizing her strengths and weaknesses to tell similar stories about consent. The difference between them boils down to how far one is willing to go than the other.

Black Widow and the Importance of Blood

Blood plays an important role for many character’s “births” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). John Walker used the blood of Steve Rogers to become U.S. Agent and gain super-human strength. Bruce Banner, thinking gamma rays were the secret subjected himself to intense radiation, transforming himself into the Hulk. Both stem from trying to recreate the super-soldier serum.

When it comes to the MCU’s version of Natasha Romanoff, played by Scarlett Johansson, the only thing having to do with blood was her mysterious ledger. Something that Loki called “gushing red” in the first Avengers film. The Black Widow movie answers the Budapest joke with an important piece of Natasha’s backstory. Realm’s first season assumes the listener or reader knows the importance of Romanoff’s blood. It may have been explained in the story, but by the end, it’s not that important.

The Inciting Incident and Working Alone

After Natasha is drugged and her blood stolen from her, she decides to work alone to find out who did it and why. She’s worried SHIELD would use the data for less than noble purposes. The person who gets her on the initial trail isn’t Steve Rogers as one might expect. The story leads you to believe that another Captain America and Black Widow team-up event is waiting for you. Rogers is briefly mentioned later in the story, which means he’s alive and could have helped.

Instead Bruce Banner acts as a Q to Natasha’s James Bond. Providing her with the — at-first glance — initial objective of her attackers, Banner sends her to meet up with the Winter Soldier. The order of events leading up to needing to find Bucky Barnes may be different as while the episodes are more less a single scene in length, the details get lost in the immersion. That said, the immersion was great. Rarely did my attention wander. Having Realm’s Flow Reader functionality to simultaneously read and listen certainly helped.

Buddy-Cop Tropes and the Mastermind’s Plan

The story uses the Buddy-Cop premise later and almost too subtle. The trope of one cop looking to retire and his new partner who will likely be the death of him is there toward the end when they team up. One of the tools often used is witty banter. While there are some moments of this, they’re few and far between. More often its simple banter as opposed to witty. The Winter Soldier is the veteran and Natasha’s recklessness to solve the mystery makes her the sidekick, despite her being the title character.

While the villain’s plan is good enough for a spy thriller, it seems like a retread of other MCU antagonists. Simply saying their names could be a spoiler of this stories masterplan from the bad guy. Like the MCU films, the ending is safe. Unlike the films, the Marvel formula of undercutting drama with humor is not there. This could be a good thing for some. The result is a jarring story that starts out strong, but becomes predictable as it progresses. It’s still enjoyable and I recommend checking out at least the samples provided by Realm.

8 out of 10 Stars

Next time

Bosh and Brave

Social Media

https://Twitter.com/AudioDramaNews

https://Facebook.com/AudioDramaDigest

Donations 

https://Ko-Fi.com/AudioDramaReviews or https://Paypal.me/MikeBergonzi

Podcasts

http://AudioDramaReviews.com/Media