1
00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:07,680
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I hope for stuff

2
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:18,760
Speaker 1: I've never told you, production by her to you, and

3
00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:23,320
Speaker 1: welcome to another sub subsub subsube segment fictional women around

4
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,400
Speaker 1: the World. This is one I always hesitate with these

5
00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:32,320
Speaker 1: episodes because we're doing a character wherein a lot of

6
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,199
Speaker 1: more information is about to come out about her, but

7
00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,879
Speaker 1: we don't have it yet. Sometimes I don't do that,

8
00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:40,360
Speaker 1: and sometimes I'm excited, so I do it, and that's

9
00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,720
Speaker 1: where we are. I'm excited, so we're talking about it.

10
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,920
Speaker 1: So yes, the Thunderbolts, the Marvel movie The Thunderbolts, which

11
00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,760
Speaker 1: is not a sponsor in any way, is coming out

12
00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:54,960
Speaker 1: soon as we record this, and so that means we

13
00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:01,080
Speaker 1: have another slightly less complicated episode for Marvel episode for

14
00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,600
Speaker 1: you about Yelena Belova, who is played by Florence Pugh.

15
00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,240
Speaker 1: No spoilers for that movie since it hasn't come out

16
00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,360
Speaker 1: and I haven't seen it yet, but spoilers for the

17
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,559
Speaker 1: Black Widow movie and Hawkeye this show, all right. So

18
00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:22,640
Speaker 1: diving into the history, Yelena is the adoptive sister of

19
00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,640
Speaker 1: Natasha Romanov aka Black Widow of the Avengers, which, by

20
00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,080
Speaker 1: the way, we have done a Black Widow episode if

21
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,240
Speaker 1: you want to check that out for more information. As

22
00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,600
Speaker 1: a young child, Yelena was born in the USSR and

23
00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:42,240
Speaker 1: was placed with adoptive parents and USSR operatives Alexei Shostakov

24
00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:46,520
Speaker 1: and Melina Vostakov and the US with Natasha posing as

25
00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,280
Speaker 1: her older sister, so they're kind of like a a

26
00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:55,080
Speaker 1: cell family. Since Yolena was so young, she didn't really

27
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,840
Speaker 1: understand what was going on and thought that they were

28
00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,120
Speaker 1: her quote, real family. She didn't know this was sort

29
00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:06,600
Speaker 1: of a government operation. After three years undercover, the family

30
00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:12,840
Speaker 1: is discovered by Shield, the Marvel operation or organization, and

31
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,880
Speaker 1: they managed to escape. The family managed to escape on

32
00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,040
Speaker 1: a plane to Cuba, a very daring escape. The two

33
00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:24,240
Speaker 1: sisters were separated in the so called Red Room, which

34
00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,000
Speaker 1: is this notorious training facility for women assassins in Russia.

35
00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,920
Speaker 1: Jumping ahead many years to the events of the Black

36
00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:35,720
Speaker 1: Widow film the main events because this is in the movie.

37
00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,960
Speaker 1: Yolena was one of the many brainwashed Red Room Black

38
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,440
Speaker 1: Widow operatives. Because Black Widow is sort of like a

39
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,600
Speaker 1: James Bond title. It's like a thing that many people carry,

40
00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,600
Speaker 1: and this kind of brainwashing is a procedure that started

41
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:56,560
Speaker 1: after Natasha defected. After a liberated black widow freeze Jolena

42
00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,079
Speaker 1: up the brainwashing with something called red dust before Elena

43
00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:06,400
Speaker 1: unfortunately fatally stabs her. This black widow makes Elena promise

44
00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,160
Speaker 1: to free the others. Realizing the depth of what she

45
00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:15,400
Speaker 1: has done while she was controlled, Yelena agrees. She goes

46
00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:20,399
Speaker 1: to Budapest, where she has a surprise confrontation with Natasha.

47
00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,359
Speaker 1: They fight and eventually arrive at a stalemate and agree

48
00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,959
Speaker 1: to a truce. Yelena explains about the Red Room, which

49
00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,760
Speaker 1: Natasha believed had been destroyed. The pair are then attacked

50
00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:36,080
Speaker 1: by a bunch of brainwashed black widows. They managed to

51
00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,400
Speaker 1: escape after an encounter with a mysterious big bad task Master,

52
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,080
Speaker 1: and they are now on the run while hiding from

53
00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,720
Speaker 1: task Master. An event, Natasha finally explains the infamous Budapest incident,

54
00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,400
Speaker 1: which is not nearly as fun as they made it

55
00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:56,000
Speaker 1: sound in the original Eventures movie. Real not nice, nos traumatizing.

56
00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,920
Speaker 1: This is a very traumatizing event. I think maybe they

57
00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,400
Speaker 1: were talking about being an event and having a bonding moment. Anyway,

58
00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,839
Speaker 1: it was a traumatizing event that I guess spoilers led

59
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:11,560
Speaker 1: to task Masker being created. So Yelena and Natasha's relationship

60
00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,280
Speaker 1: is very strained in the beginning, like they're awkward around

61
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:19,640
Speaker 1: each other. Yelena ask while why Natasha never looked her up,

62
00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,320
Speaker 1: and Natasha reasons that they weren't really family and that

63
00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:24,600
Speaker 1: she believed that Yelena was living a normal life without

64
00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,160
Speaker 1: her and was kind of better off. Yelena accused her

65
00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,760
Speaker 1: of just wanting to hang out with the cool kids

66
00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,840
Speaker 1: aka the Avengers, but they do bond and the pair

67
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,240
Speaker 1: decides to work together to bring an end to the

68
00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,680
Speaker 1: Redroom once and for all. Here is where Yelena buys

69
00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,719
Speaker 1: a vest, which is the first thing she's ever purchased

70
00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,960
Speaker 1: on her own, and she's very excited about it. They

71
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,200
Speaker 1: then go on a mission to rescue their adoptive father,

72
00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,960
Speaker 1: believing that he may know the location to the constantly

73
00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,120
Speaker 1: moving Red Room, which they do rescue him, but the

74
00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,520
Speaker 1: reunion is also a bit rocky. Yelena punches him in

75
00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,360
Speaker 1: the face. He accuses her of being on her period

76
00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,240
Speaker 1: and she's like, actually, they forcibly removed all of my

77
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:14,520
Speaker 1: reproductive organs in the Red Room. Try again. They then

78
00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,800
Speaker 1: go try to find their adoptive mother, and when they do,

79
00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:23,520
Speaker 1: they all have very awkward family dinner. Their adoptive mom

80
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,520
Speaker 1: Orville's that their mission in the US all those years

81
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,920
Speaker 1: ago had been about perfecting the technology that they used

82
00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:35,159
Speaker 1: to control all black widows. Fight breaks out, with Natasha

83
00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,840
Speaker 1: dismissing any claims to their family, while Yelena says it

84
00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:43,080
Speaker 1: was real for her. She isolates herself away, but her

85
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,240
Speaker 1: adoptive dad and her share a bonding moment where he

86
00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,240
Speaker 1: sings her favorite song when she was a kid, which

87
00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:53,120
Speaker 1: is American Pie. The family's attacked by black widows and

88
00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,960
Speaker 1: Yelena wakes up in the Red Room facility about to

89
00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,040
Speaker 1: be operated on. However, her mother had put a communication

90
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,279
Speaker 1: device in her ear and informed her about a blade

91
00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,279
Speaker 1: in her suit that allows her to escape. She locates

92
00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,800
Speaker 1: some red dust, finds the widows that are attacking Natasha

93
00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,880
Speaker 1: in the Big Bad's office, not Taskmaster but the other guy.

94
00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,120
Speaker 1: Yelena tossed a grenade wrapped with the vials of red

95
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,800
Speaker 1: dust into the room, where it exploded and freed the widows.

96
00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:23,040
Speaker 1: Yelena evacuated them while Natasha extracted data on where the

97
00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,800
Speaker 1: rest of them were around the world, so the Big

98
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:29,040
Speaker 1: Bad dre Cough was attempting to escape on a helicopter,

99
00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,760
Speaker 1: but Yelena managed to climb onto it, intending to stick

100
00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,200
Speaker 1: her baton in it and take them all down, and

101
00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:38,120
Speaker 1: Natasha arrives just in time to hear her say basically

102
00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,279
Speaker 1: like it's been fun, but I'm going this is the

103
00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,960
Speaker 1: end for me. She starts free falling as the helicopter explodes,

104
00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,120
Speaker 1: Natasha jumps after her, catches her and deploys her parachute,

105
00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:53,720
Speaker 1: guaranteeing Yelena a safe landing. Later, she apologizes to Yelena

106
00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:55,880
Speaker 1: for not coming for her sooner, and that she also

107
00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:00,360
Speaker 1: felt that their family was real. Due to governments slash

108
00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:04,479
Speaker 1: Avengers reasons, Natasha has to go on her own path,

109
00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:10,200
Speaker 1: but not before Elena gives Natasha her best Yolena spent

110
00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,360
Speaker 1: the next few years freeing black widows while Natasha was

111
00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:18,840
Speaker 1: doing Avenger things until Sanos's snap erased Helena from existence

112
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,880
Speaker 1: for five years. When she was brought back during the Blip,

113
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,760
Speaker 1: as it's called, she learned that Natasha had died. She

114
00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,760
Speaker 1: is approached by a woman named Valentina Alegra de Fontaine

115
00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,440
Speaker 1: or Valve for short, who tells her that Clint Barton

116
00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,240
Speaker 1: slash Hawke killed her, so Jolena sets off on a

117
00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,640
Speaker 1: mission to kill him in revenge. She confronts Clint on

118
00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,880
Speaker 1: several occasions as he attempts to get her to believe

119
00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:49,440
Speaker 1: the truth of Natasha's sacrifice because she basically sacrificed herself

120
00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,400
Speaker 1: Clint did not kill her, and also encounters and sort

121
00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,160
Speaker 1: of befriends Kate Bishop, who we've also talked about on

122
00:07:56,200 --> 00:08:01,040
Speaker 1: the segment, who is Clint's protege. Bishop continues only defends Clint,

123
00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,600
Speaker 1: and they have her and Yelene have a very fun

124
00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,720
Speaker 1: relationship in my opinion, but it isn't intel. Clint uses

125
00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,160
Speaker 1: the secret whistle Natasha and Elena used when they were

126
00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,880
Speaker 1: kids that she starts to believe him, and they share

127
00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:17,800
Speaker 1: an emotional moment grieving Natasha. So that's where we are

128
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,320
Speaker 1: as this movie comes out. I know, like in the

129
00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:22,960
Speaker 1: most recent trailer they show they have behind the scenes

130
00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,160
Speaker 1: of how they did this Stint where she jumps off

131
00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,880
Speaker 1: the highest building in the world, and a quote playing

132
00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,640
Speaker 1: during it is like, I think something's wrong with me,

133
00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:33,520
Speaker 1: or maybe I'm just bored. I think that kind of

134
00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,840
Speaker 1: captures a lot of her personality. She's very in the

135
00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:41,320
Speaker 1: shadows as compared to Natasha. She even has a quote

136
00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,800
Speaker 1: about that. She says, pain and suffering is every day

137
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,800
Speaker 1: and we are both still trained killers, except I'm not

138
00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:48,880
Speaker 1: the one that's on the cover of a magazine. I'm

139
00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,480
Speaker 1: not the killer that little girls call their hero. She

140
00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,320
Speaker 1: also kind of pokes fun at Tatasha for having the

141
00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,199
Speaker 1: superhero landing. That's a running joke, even though she does

142
00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:02,120
Speaker 1: end up doing it. She's very cynical, sarcastic. She's also

143
00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,160
Speaker 1: incredibly skilled, but I've find she's a really genuine in

144
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,280
Speaker 1: a way that I enjoy it. She really was moved

145
00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,960
Speaker 1: by like this is my family and I want to

146
00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,040
Speaker 1: fight for it. So she's a character I like and

147
00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,160
Speaker 1: I'm interested to see what happens. Wee Shlsey. Maybe this

148
00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,880
Speaker 1: will be an update in future in the future, but

149
00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:23,920
Speaker 1: in the meantime, listeners, if you have any thoughts about

150
00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,679
Speaker 1: this or any characters we should do next, please let

151
00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,679
Speaker 1: us know. You can email us at Hello at stuff

152
00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:30,920
Speaker 1: Whenever Told You dot com. You can find us on

153
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,240
Speaker 1: Blue Scott at most a podcast, or on Instagram and

154
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:35,959
Speaker 1: TikTok at stuff We Never Told You For us on YouTube.

155
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:37,280
Speaker 1: We have a Teeth public store, and we have a

156
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:39,400
Speaker 1: book you can get wherever you get your books. Thanks

157
00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,160
Speaker 1: as always too our super ducer Christina or executive pducer my

158
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,640
Speaker 1: anti contriper Joey. Thank you and thanks to you for

159
00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,000
Speaker 1: listening stuff never told you. Issptiction by Heart Radio for

160
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:48,520
Speaker 1: more podcasts or my heart Radio. You can check out

161
00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,120
Speaker 1: the heart Radio app have a podcast, or if you

162
00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:51,200
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows,