Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Black Widow actor Olivier Richters claims he played ‘first X-Men character’ in MCU

‘When they told me who I really was, I let out some tears,’ he said

Jacob Stolworthy
Friday 16 July 2021 09:18 BST
Comments
Marvel Studios' Black Widow Trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A Black Widow actor has made a bold claim about their appearance in the new film.

After a year of delay, Natasha Romanoff’s standalone adventure was unveiled earlier this month, showing what happened to Scarlett Johansson’s characters between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.

The film introduces us to her estranged Russian family, including sister Yelena (Florence Pugh), mother Melina (Rachel Weisz) and father Alexei (David Harbour), formerly known as the superhero Red Guardian.

*Minor spoilers follow – you have been warned*

In the film, she teams up with Yelena to break their super-strength father out of prison, where he spends his days beating his fellow convicts at arm-wrestling.

When a bodybuilder opponent sits opposite him, Alexei pretends to be afraid before breaking his arm, beating him with ease. It turns out this character’s name is Ursa Major, which you might not know is the name of a famous Marvel character – and now, the actor who plays him, Olivier Richters, says his appearance marks an MCU first.

Dutch actor Richters, who is seven feet, two inches, wrote on Instagram on Thursday (15 July): “Marvel Black Widow is out! After two years I can finally tell who my character is: Ursa Major: the first mutant (X-Men) to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters says his ‘Black Widow’ character is MCU’s first X-Men character
Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters says his ‘Black Widow’ character is MCU’s first X-Men character (Instagram @thedutchgiant)

He added: “Ursa is part of the Winter Guard, noted for being ‘Russia’s answer to the Avengers’. His power transforms him into an incredible bear, transcending The Hulk in size. Ursa appears many times in the comics fighting Wolverine and The Hulk.”

Richter claims his mutant status was confirmed by the production team, writing: “When [they] told me who I really was in Black Widow, I let [out] some tears in my hotel room, because my movie dream became true: being an official comic superhero. I can only hope Marvel will bring back Ursa in full form.”

Black Widow is in cinemas now and is also available to watch on Disney Plus via Premier Access.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in