With the much anticipated Black Widow solo film just around the corner, as well as the trailer having recently dropped, fans are getting excited about seeing so many new characters join the MCU, including a new Black Widow.
Hopefully, the film will answer many questions about Natasha's past. Included in this are allies like the Red Guardian, who will star in the film and is played by David Harbour. Here are 10 things you might not have known about this important character.
10 KNOCK-OFF CAPTAIN AMERICA
The first thing that every fan should know about Red Guardian is the concept of his creation. The Red Guardian was created by the Russians as an answer to the super soldier program in America. The general idea, therefore, came about during the war period.
The character also bears a star on their chest and some versions actually have a shield just like Cap himself. However, not all of the characters that take on the mantle are actually super-powered, but portray the same idea of hope.
9 MULTIPLE VERSIONS
There are many different versions of the Red Guardian over the years. In fact, as of now, there have been seven different iterations of the Red Guardian, during a mix of time periods and actually a mix of genders as well.
The main point of the character is to represent Russia in some way and nearly all of them have been portrayed as heroes throughout their time as the character, even occasionally fighting against Russian or the Soviet Union, in order to do the right thing, much like Cap himself.
8 FIRST ORIGIN
The original version of the character was called Aleksey Lebedev and was the version of the character that was created during the second world war. He actually fought alongside the allies and next to Captain America himself.
There are even records of him having fought with the Invaders and other superhero teams during this time period. After the war had ended he would go on to face the Soviet Union over their plan to create more 'heroes' like himself, in cruel experiments.
7 MARRIAGE TO NATASHA
The second and most well-known iteration of the character was Alexi Shostakov, which is the version of the Red Guardian that will be appearing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version of the character was not powered in the comics, but could be in the film.
In the comics, Alexi was actually married to Natasha. However, the two did not know about each other's secret identities. Alexi was a pilot before being chosen for such a special assignment. It was only towards the end of their relationship that Natasha discovered the truth.
6 STARLIGHT
Starlight is the moniker of another hero that wears the Red Guardian costume and was briefly a part of this family. Tania Belinkskaya was the first female fighter to take on the role and also a very intelligent and well-accomplished scientist and surgeon.
She too had a role to play as part of a larger team. Trying to set herself apart from her predecessors, Starlight joined the Defenders and fought to protect Earth on countless occasions. She was powered with nuclear energy although the threat of the Soviets always loomed over her.
5 STEEL GUARDIAN
The Steel Guardian is yet another version of the character, although this one is even more modern and varied compared to the other versions of the character. He was also a member of the Winter Guard, who we will speak more about later in this list.
Much like the other versions of the character, The Steel Guardian teamed up with the Avengers, fought for heroic causes and even had the trademark shield. However, Steel Guardian was a stronger leader, helping to form a brand new group.
4 WINTER GUARD
Not only did the Steel Guardian create the Winter Guard from a separate group of Soviet separatists, but he was actually the leader of his invention. The group could be considered similar to Alpha Flight in many respects, although representative of the Soviets.
The Winter Guard finds its base in Moscow and has featured some major characters from across Russian history, including members such as Darkstar, Powersurge and a character that will be appearing later on this list, Vanguard. It's possible the team Black Widow creates is a version of this.
3 LMD
Life model decoys have been responsible for creating a lot of confusion in the Marvel universe. The return of Alexi can also be chalked up to the use of an LMD. During one major story arc, Alexi was seemingly revived as a different hero, Ronin.
However, his actions quickly turned villainous, even kidnapping his former wife and trapping her against her will. It was a swift chop to the neck that ultimately ended this charade and there's every chance a trick like this could be played in the upcoming film, perhaps to cover the identity of Taskmaster.
2 VANGUARD
Nikolai Krylenko is the latest version of the Red Guardian and currently goes by the name of Vanguard. He has a very similar costume to all of those before him and as we previously mentioned he's a main leader in the Winter Guard group.
However, Vanguard has a more complex history with his homeland. He was entranced by Communism for quite some time and actually fought for Russia on a number of occasions. He eventually rejected his country although never quite the ideology.
1 DEATHS
As you may imagine, many of these characters had gruesome and grisly deaths. There are a number of notable ones that are heavily linked to the characters. The original Red Guardian was actually killed in action by the Soviets for his resistance.
The second and most important Red Guardian for the MCU, was killed moments after he revealed his identity to Natasha, which may spell bad news for the movie version. Other versions have also been killed by the Soviets due to their affiliation with America.