Mason From Black Widow: Know More About Him

The Black Widow movie saw Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow confront the darker parts of her ledger and battle a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha has to deal with her dark past and revisit relationships broken long before she became an Avenger. The film also features Florence Pugh as Yelena Beleova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov or the red Guardian and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff. It saw the introduction of many Marvel Comics characters to the MCU. Namely, the Red Guardian, Yelena Belova, the Taskmaster and also set up Yelena’s potential appearance in the Hawkeye series through the post credits.

The movie also introduced another character to the audiences, Rick Mason. He is an independent contractor and was the one responsible for securing the Budapest safehouse, amenities and a quinjet over the years for Natasha. He was the person who helped her when she was on the run, proving to be a resourceful ally. Played by O.T. Fagbenle, Mason only appeared in the movie for a brief moment, but his role in the MCU could be deeper than we know. Read on to find out more about him.

COMICS ORIGIN

Rick Mason was introduced in the 1990 graphic novel, Rick Mason: The Agent as the son of Phineas Mason aka The Tinkerer, who is also known as one of Spider-Man’s first enemies. Unlike his father, Rick was depicted as a hero working as a freelance intelligence agent. Not being affiliated with any particular agency, he was willing to sell his services to the highest bidder and was known in the Marvel Universe as “The Agent”. The graphic novel saw him put under the employment of Nick Fury, who needed him to take down a drug ring run by super-powered villains.

CHARACTER STORY IN BLACK WIDOW

In the movie, Mason is shown to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who Black Widow worked with during her days in the organization. It was through Mason that Black Widow gained access to a Quinjet, which are highly advanced jets designed by S.H.I.E.L.D. Working under S.H.I.E.L.D. might have allowed Mason to develop a long list of contacts associated with various countries and organizations. His military career could have also been a reason for his long list of connections as well. This would explain how he was able to secure all the things that Natasha had asked of him without raising suspicion.

FUTURE IN THE MCU

Considering how his character is portrayed in the movie and what Fagbenle has said about him, it’s more likely that Mason is a freelance operative with no official ties to any agency or government. As mentioned above, the comic book version of Rick Mason had no affiliations to S.H.I.E.L.D.or any other organisation, but he wasn’t opposed to doing a job for them if offered a sufficient sum. 

This is the main portrayal of who Mason is in the comics, so it seems reasonable that this aspect of his character is the reason why he was featured in Black Widow. Plus, it’s worth noting that Fagbenle has described Mason in a way that matches how he was characterized in the Rick Mason: The Agent graphic novel from 1990. According to Fagbenle, Mason is “ready to work for the highest bidder”. His character in the movie helps create a similar impression. Any Marvel character in a Phase 4 movie or Disney+hotstar show rich enough could potentially pay for Mason’s services. Alternatively, he may also be willing to provide assistance to other former associates in the same way that he did to Natasha in Black Widow. 

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