Stranger Things and Hellboy star David Harbour is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe this May as he takes on the role of Alexei Shostakov, a.k.a. Red Guardian, the Russian counterpart to Captain America, and the actor has been speaking to The Wrap about his part in the Scarlett Johansson-led superhero spy adventure.
“He’s this guy who is closely linked to Natasha back in the day,” said Harbour. “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. 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 superheroes 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.”
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In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller “Black Widow,” Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Black Widow is being directed by Cate Shortland (Lore) and sees Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff alongside Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family) as Yelena Belova, O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Mason, David Harbour (Stranger Things) as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Rachel Weisz (The Favourite) as Melina Vostokoff/Iron Maiden, and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) and Olivier Richters (The King’s Man) in as-yet-unrevealed roles. It is set for release on May 1st 2020.
Originally published January 16, 2020. Updated January 18, 2020.
