Fans of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow will see the Marvel Cinematic Universe heroine return for her solo film. Essentially, the Black Widow film finally shows a more concrete look into Natasha Romanoff's past in the Red Room and MCU Russia's take on the superhero scene. In fact, among the new faces in the film include Alexei Shostakov, codenamed Red Guardian. And given his look, he's indeed a super-soldier who serves as Russia's analog to Captain America.
However, the Red Guardian isn't a totally new character in the Marvel universe. In fact, Red Guardian has become a recurring character in comics set in international settings - especially those involving Black Widow Interestingly, there's also more to the Red Guardian than just being Russia's red-garbed Captain America.
10 The Decorated Husband Of Black Widow
Alexei Shostakov showed prowess in being a test pilot for the Soviet Union's most dangerous and secret projects. In fact, the highly-publicized nature of his career had decorated him as a Hero of the Soviet Union. Perhaps more interesting is the fact that Shostakov got married to Natasha Romanoff, who back then was a famous ballerina.
However, the KGB had other plans for Shostakov after selecting him and his wife to become special operatives. In turn, the KGB told Alexei they would have to orchestrate his death - and even Natasha wouldn't know what happened to him. This event marked their unofficial separation and transformation into Soviet agents.
9 The Brutal Red Guardian
When Natasha heard that Alexei died in an experiment at work, she wanted to honor his heroic memory. Anticipating this reaction, the KGB got Natasha in the Red Room for the Black Widow Program. Meanwhile, Alexei got chosen - over Yuri Gagarin - to receive training as a costumed operative.
After his training, Alexei became the Red Guardian - the second one, after Aleksey Lebedev. While the Red Guardian became the Soviet Union's answer to Captain America, the transformation made Alexei anything but the Avenger. Unlike his former self, Alexei's Red Guardian have become ruthless and cruel.
8 Defeat At The Avengers
When the Soviet Union got wind of Red China's psychotron superweapon - a device that can induce mass hallucinations - they sent the Red Guardian to retrieve it. His mission eventually led to him capturing Black Widow, and revealed to her that he's actually Alexei. Their "reunion" was cut short when the Avengers, led by Captain America, arrived at the scene.
Thanks to Captain America's arrival, the Red Guardian now had the chance to prove his superiority against the Avenger. Sadly, Captain America bested the Red Guardian regardless. When Colonel Ling of Red China tried to aim at an unconscious Captain America, the Red Guardian stopped him as Captain America was defenseless for a fair fight. An explosion in the base was rumored to kill both Colonel Ling and the Red Guardian.
7 May Have A Tinge Of Spite
Readers can get a much deeper look into Alexei's personality back in Daredevil (2004), where he secretly led the attempt to have Natasha handed over to the Bulgarian government in exchange of Madame Hydra being released into the United States. Natasha remarked her surprise seeing Alexei alive after his apparent death, but she also wondered why "take a swipe" at her after building his new and secret life all these years.
Alexei simply answered that he didn't like Natasha, and he didn't like to lose. This is a surprising reveal towards Alexei's personality, which hinted he's an extremely prideful individual. Moreover, this may be a callback to losing his previous fight in Captain America prior to the Red Guardian's assumed death.
6 Enter Ronin
Black Widow met with Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Dominic Fortune after realizing a connection between the mysterious death of a Japanese SHIELD agent and the mass murder of KGB trainees. They soon realize that the ninja Ronin, alongside the Dark Ocean Society, carried out these attacks and has Black Widow and Mockingbird in his sights.
In a confrontation, the heroes unravel Ronin's identity as Alexei himself - making him the third person to assume the ninja persona. However, this Alexei was a Life Model Decoy (LMD) that assumed his personality. The LMD Alexei's goal was to instigate a war between Japan and Russia that would return the latter to its former glory. This wouldn't come to fruition, as Black Widow manages to kill the LMD.
5 A Variety Of Gear
Aside from their trademark red suit, each iteration of the Red Guardian had a different set of gear and specializations. In the case of Alexei, extensive exercise helped him achieve peak human physiology. It's unknown whether Alexei in the Black Widow film received a variant of the super-soldier serum like Bucky did in the comics.
In terms of equipment, Alexei's Red Guardian possessed a detachable belt-buckle disc that could become a throwing weapon. Special magnets in the disc helped guide its way back to Red Guardian.
Other Red Guardians possessed other gear. Josef's Red Guardian had an energized sword to join his shield. Meanwhile, the LMD Anton had cybernetic augmentations as the Red Guardian. Lastly, Nikolai's Vanguard has an advanced suit that improves his shield's performance.
4 A Title Beyond The Soviet Union
In its original reincarnation, the Soviet Union created the Red Guardian as a Soviet counterpart to Captain America. However, more individuals wore the Red Guardian garb beyond Shostakov. For instance, Aleksey Lebedev actually became the first Red Guardian. In turn, the Red Guardian's missions and operations not necessarily served the Soviet Union, as the title lasted even beyond the Union's fall.
As such, seven incarnations of the Red Guardian existed in the main Earth-616 Universe. These individuals either retired or passed away in the comics, or even got to adopt new superhero identities. Other Red Guardians included Anton, Krassno Granitsky, Dr. Tania Belinsky (now Starlight), Josef Ptktus (now Steel Guardian), and Nikolai Krylenko (now Vanguard).
3 Superpowered Versions
Granted, the Red Guardian in Black Widow doesn't exhibit any special abilities beyond being a super-soldier. However, two other Red Guardians in the comics actually possess superpowers due to various factors. Perhaps the first superpowered Red Guardian came in the form of Tania Belinsky, who received various abilities from cobalt radiation mutation. Tania, who became Starlight, can generate and project nuclear energy and radiation as well as fly at supersonic speeds.
Meanwhile, current Red Guardian Nikolai Krylenko, now Vanguard, is a mutant possessing a fullbody force field. Thanks to this ability, Vanguard can repel kinetic and electromagnetic energy. With his advanced Vibranium Shield, he can also redirect these forces back to enemies.
2 An Attachment With The Winter Guard
Whereas Shostakov became Ronin, the other Red Guardians became more involved with the Winter Guard. This superhero team, previously known as the Supreme Soviets, served as the Russian counterpart of the Avengers. Their membership majorly composed of superhumans from the Supreme Soviets, the People's Protectorate, and the Soviet Super-Soldiers. In recent times, the Winter Guard became more heroic unlike the aforementioned adversarial teams.
Aside from other heroes, the Winter Guard always had one Red Guardian, alongside one Crimson Dynamo and one Darkstar. This transformed the Red Guardian title into more of a role. Red Guardians who joined the Winter Guard included Anton and Petkus (Steel Guardian) who died while fighting Dire Wraiths, and Krylenko (Vanguard) who now leads the Winter Guard.
1 Had Mixed Fates, Destinies
As Red Guardian had different bearers, they also had different destinies outside the more notable Shostakov. For instance, Lebedev mysteriously died after showing disagreement with the experiments that would create Shostakov's Red Guardian.
More obscure Red Guardians would become short-lived as well. For example, Gratinsky fought a crime lord alongside mercenary superhero Maverick but met death at the hands of execution as per Aleksander Lukin's orders. Likewise, Belinsky joined the Defenders as Starlight and is sucked in Limbo alongside the Dire Wraith queen during an alien invasion.