Metal Gear Solid Director Calls Out Similarities Between Black Widow White Suit And The Boss

Fans reacted pretty positively to Marvel's new Black Widow trailer across social media, but there [...]

By Matthew Aguilar

Fans reacted pretty positively to Marvel's new Black Widow trailer across social media, but there were a few critics of the first footage. One critic, in particular, wasn't really critiquing the film itself as much as what inspired it, and that critic happens to also be the director of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid feature film. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts took to Twitter after the footage was released to share his theories on what inspires Black Widow, and to him, the similarities between Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Black Widow are unmistakable, especially when it comes to The Boss.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts took to Twitter to share his thoughts, saying "Honest question. I'm firm believer of parallel thinking, but...Is there any BLACK WIDOW pre the release of METAL GEAR SOLID 3 in 2004 that establishes this white suit? It sure reminds me of a certain patriot who saved the world❗️ Also, Cyber Monday Sale on elevated walkways!"

He followed that up with "Ok, the suit first appeared in 2010. Six years *after* MGS3 introduced us to THE BOSS. The comic design skewed sleek catsuit vs. the significantly more tactical in vibe glimpse in the trailer. Notice the accented black straps + zipper pockets. #YojiShinkawa is a living legend. This is his design. Shinkawa-san & Kojima-san are 2 strands of the same brilliant double-helix creatively orbiting each other. I am VERY curious where ya'll draw the blurry creative line between inspiration vs. straight lifting or strip mining?"

That's when Vogt-Roberts shifts from talking about The Boss to the film's style of combat, citing that it looks a lot like Metal Gear's CQC combat (close quarters combat).

"Now we should touch on "CQC". What is CQC you ask? It's a legendary and technical style of combat unique to the Metal Gear franchise. It's designed for "rapid alternation between armed & hand to hand combat" It's pure @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN! This moment plays on loop in my brain. So here we witness the old tradition (still celebrated in most of rural Eastern Europe) where two spies (and family) unexpectedly 'bump' into each other. Whoops! Immediately guns draw as tense pleasantries are exchanged through the narrow sights. What happens next you ask?" CQC BABY! An immediate display of balletic movement as each spy attempts disarm the other. NOTE: This thread will be ONLY describing what happens in MGS. Any parallels you see are your own. Blow for blow & quip for quip, years of subtextul backstory ooze from the action."

At that point, he acknowledges that Widow has used close combat quite a bit in the movies, but analyzes the differences in her style and the style used in the game.

"So...The MCU fights have mostly shown Natasha as a badass resourceful brawler who employs parkour-esque wraps / leg locks to take down foes. Dope! But...can you tell me if there's any prior emphasis with her and the CQC-esque interplay of hands, guns & melee in the trailer?"

Natasha's used hand to hand in previous films, but it seems the disarming method, in particular, is what bothers him. He did add that he will reserve judgement until he sees the film, adding "I have loving, trusted friends on Black Widow so I will reserve judgement until I see the film but this surprised me given the deep reservoir Marvel has to draw from....❗️MGS OTAKU❗️how does all of this this sit with you? Marvel fans, do you care? Fans of both? Let me know!!"

"Every movie is a miracle. Decent movies are double miracles," Vogt-Roberts wrote. "Great movies are triple miracles and the bottom line is making movies is hard and we should always root for films to be good. So, I hope Black Widow is great but also...❗️LONG LIVE THE BOSS❗️"

There are obvious similarities between The Boss and Black Widow, and if you're a Metal Gear Solid fan (which Vogt-Roberts clearly is), you might very well see more than others. That said, as a fan myself, at no time did I think Widow was ripping Metal Gear off, whether that was in regards to The Boss (an amazing character) or combat style.

Still, let us know what you think in the comments, and feel free to hit me up on Twitter @MattAguilarCB for all things Gaming and Marvel!

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