Black Widow has a lot of expectations and excitement behind it. Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff made her first appearance 11 years ago with the release of Iron Man 2. Not quite an origin story, Black Widow takes a glimpse at Natasha's past, family, and why she fights.

On top of the nearly impossible expectations of a Marvel movie, Black Widow was originally slated for release on May 1, 2020. The pandemic kept pushing it further out and now, more than a year after its intended release date, it hits theaters. 

Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as the title character, who in 2016 (the MCU timeline puts the plot of the movie just after Captain America: Civil War) must stay hidden from government entities and mind-controlled assassins trying to track her down, all while dealing with the broken relationships of her past.

I’m going to do my best to not spoil anything as I break down five screenwriting takeaways from Black Widow.

1. Following protocol

It’s a Marvel movie! But you already knew that. For writers who are also fans of the MCU, you can see how certain guidelines and protocols must be followed. While artists strive for freedom and creativity, filmmaking is a collaborative environment and in the case of IP such as Marvel, there are certain guidelines in place.

Black Widow is a $200 million movie. But guidelines and restrictions are also in place if a writer takes on an assignment with a $500,000 budget. Screenwriters should be able to adapt to these requirements and work within them — even embrace them — as a form of creativity.

In a recent discussion on "Write On," Final Draft's podcast, Ed Solomon, who recently wrote No Sudden Move, indicated that knowing the guidelines created by conversations with director Steven Soderbergh and the direction of the film gave him a sense of freedom in his writing.

2. The origin story

Every superhero needs an origin story. Some get their own movies, while others get the beginning of a movie. Black Widow is the latter. In the first scenes of the film, we see Natasha's life with parents Alexei (David Harbour) and Melina (Rachel Weisz), and her sister, Yelena (Florence Pugh). It seems relatively happy, until it’s not.

We don’t get much more of an origin other than that and only learn throughout the film more of the characters’ backstories. It’s similar to other Marvel movies like Guardians of the Galaxy with Peter and his mother, and we learn more as the story progresses. 

Writers can see how the writers of Black Widow plant plenty of pieces of information in a character’s past that the audience will see play out later in the film. The catalyst that causes the family to flee and how they go about running foreshadows a great deal in the later parts of the movie.

3. A problem the protagonist doesn’t know about

There is a sinister conspiracy afoot. The problem is that our hero doesn’t know about it. Slowly, the conspiracy unfolds though, and Natasha gets involved with trying to stop it. But where does her knowledge of everything that’s going on come from?

One of the drivers of the film is the characters' constant need for more information. Yelena sends a package to Natasha, propelling her to track down her sister and find out more. As the two team up and the conspiracy is increasingly revealed, the family dynamic is needed more to help save the world.

Writers can see how Black Widow delivers a constant back and forth of successes and setbacks with each new reveal. It drives conflict not just within the plot of the movie, but the characters as well. In this film, this seemingly idyllic family at the beginning of the movie is rife with conflict between one another because of deceit from decades ago.

4. Get the team back together 

Just like in any Marvel movie, Natasha can’t do this alone. Whether it's a heist movie like Ocean’s Eleven, a comedy like Bridesmaids, or The Avengers, the writer must find a way to bring everyone who needs to be together back together. This involves building characters and backstory as much as plot.

The characters must come from somewhere and it must be defined why they are there, the history they have with the team, and the potential internal and external conflicts — the family is scattered and so each new reveal brings the story of what they had been up to for the past two decades.

Black Widow is filled with this. Yelena was a mind-controlled assassin but started out as the younger sister to Natasha when they lived in Ohio. Alexei was once the equivalent of Russia’s Captain America and a father to two little girls. All these factors and more play a role in getting the team back together, causing conflict and ensuring they can eventually work as one.

5. The villain

Ray Winstone plays Dreykov, the notorious villain at the head of the conspiracy. The job of our heroes is to stop him. While not physically tough like the heroes, he’s cunning and smart. Once upon a time our villains could be dumb — they merely had to be mean, want to destroy things, and want vengeance against the hero.

Today’s villains must be incredibly capable. The Avengers had Thanos and Die Hard had Hans Gruber. The antagonist must wield control and power that makes stopping them almost impossible. Almost.

There must be one weakness that the hero can exploit, and that is the case in Black Widow. But what is the weakness? It’s not always obvious and the audience may not know the answer until the hero reveals it. A writer can see how Black Widow exploits this notion by dropping red herrings where the audience thinks the hero can win, but ultimately fails. These failures make the final success of conquering the villain even sweeter.

Remember, to be a good hero you need an even better villain.

Black Widow is now playing in theaters.