Natasha’s dysfunctional relationship with her Russian-agent surrogate family is my favorite part of Black Widow, and within that, my favorite of those familial relationships is the one between Natasha and her estranged fake little sister Yelena. Seeing the growing pains of their reunion is a great way to probe more deeply into Natasha’s character while also introducing a great new one (a few Natasha-Yelena-related spoilers.)
During the three years they spent as the decoy children in an Americans-style family unit in Ohio, Natasha understood the real situation – that their “parents” were actually deeply-embedded Russian spies and that the whole family act was simply cover – but Yelena didn’t. She was too young, and whatever hazy memories she had of the family she was kidnapped from quickly blended into the new memories she was making with her fake parents and big sister. It wasn’t until Melina and Alexei completed their mission and extracted themselves that the truth came slamming down. Natasha and Yelena were delivered up to the Red Room, Natasha returning to continue her training/conditioning and Yelena being subjected to it for the first time. Both were tortured and brainwashed as they were molded into highly-efficient assassins.
Natasha was eventually turned by S.H.I.E.L.D., and as a parting gift, she killed Dreykov, destroying the Red Room in the process. Or she she thought. As she refocused her loyalties and became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she didn’t cross paths with Yelena again, but she comforted herself with the idea that Yelena got out and was living a normal life somewhere. However, when Yelena lands herself in hot water and she and Natasha are brought back together after the events of Civil War, it’s time for Natasha to get her own rude awakening: Dreykov escaped her hit all those years ago, the Red Room is still active, and Yelena has only just regained the free will that was stolen from her through chemical conditioning. Yelena is armed with the only way to free Black Widows, and Natasha convinces her younger sister to join her in taking down the Red Room for good.
In my review for Black Widow, I mentioned my appreciation for the way that Natasha’s “family” brings out different sides of her, as well as the way they all tease her. Both of those things are especially true with Yelena. Their unexpected reunion might begin with a physical fight, as neither is sure how much they can trust the other, but it quickly slides into sisterly bickering and truth-telling. Natasha moves into big-sister mode, making Yelena’s safety her responsibility and positioning herself as the chief decision-maker for their mission. Meanwhile, Yelena is serving up peak little sister, relentlessly mocking Natasha’s impractical fight poses while simultaneously fishing for Natasha’s approval about her new vest (it’s the first piece of clothing Yelena has ever been able to buy for herself as a free woman and she’s very proud of it.)
It’s not all squabbles and teasing, though. Both women have experienced serious hurt, and they’re able to delve into that together. Yelena and Natasha compare what memories they have of their original families and ponder what they do with what the Red Room made them into. What’s more, Yelena has plenty of hurt that she specifically associates with Natasha, the pain of knowing her Avenger sister never came back for her/saved her, the fact that she was the only one in the “family” who didn’t know their Ohio life was a lie at the time. Yelena pushes Natasha on these things and doesn’t allow for excuses.
And within all of this, we also get the fact that they work extremely well together. Both have similar training, of course, so both share the same considerable skill set (which makes them a little too evenly matched in their initial fight scene, their parallel moves canceling each other out.) They’re well-versed in hand-to-hand combat, shooting, getaway-driving, infiltration, and improvising as needed when things go to hell, and they prove to be a formidable force when they team up. They’re a pair to be reckoned with, and despite some of the long-nurtured hurts between them, they have each other’s back until the end.
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