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Everyone's saying the same thing about the new 'Red Sparrow' trailer starring Jennifer Lawrence

A new trailer for Jennifer Lawrence’s spy thriller Red Sparrow has arrived, and everyone is saying the same thing: Isn’t this just a Black Widow rip-off?

The steamy new trailer shows J-Law as ballet dancer Dominika Egorova, a young woman drafted against her will into the Russian secret service to be a trained seductress.

“Dominika learns to use her body as a weapon, but struggles to maintain her sense of self during the dehumanising training process,” the official Red Sparrow synopsis explains.

“Finding her power in an unfair system, she emerges as one of the program’s strongest assets.”

Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson both under interrogation as spies in ‘Avengers’ and ‘Red Sparrow’. (Fox/Disney)
Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson both under interrogation as spies in ‘Avengers’ and ‘Red Sparrow’. (Fox/Disney)

It sounds very similar to the backstory of Natasha Romanova – Scarlett Johansson’s character in the Marvel movies – also known as Black Widow. A lot of her backstory has been glimpsed in the Marvel movies through flashbacks.

“Natasha was recruited to become part of the Black Widow Program, a team of elite female sleeper agents,” the Black Widow entry on Marvel.com’s Marvel Universe wiki reads. “Natasha studied as a ballerina to cover for her true occupation.”

The glaring similarity between the two – heck, even the names sound the same – coupled with Marvel Studios’ reluctance to give Black Widow her own solo film, has caused many to point out the apparent injustice on Twitter.

You have to admit, the similarities are uncanny, however the same thing can also be said about most male-led spy movies too in comparison to the James Bond films. How many modern spy movies don’t owe a debt of one kind or another to Ian Fleming’s 007?

Without Bond, there’d be no Jason Bourne, xXx, Kingsman, Salt, Atomic Blonde… the list goes on. Even the Mission: Impossible movies wouldn’t have been possible without the enduring legacy of Bond.

20th Century Fox’s Red Sparrow starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeremy Irons, Mary-Louise Parker, and Charlotte Rampling arrives in cinemas 2 March.

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