David Harbour is joining the MCU, and the irony of his role hasn’t escaped Stranger Things fans

One of the (many) big reveals at San Diego Comic-Con may have reopened a fresh wound for Stranger Things fans, but not in the way you might expect. 

Though there were plenty of reveals at San Diego Comic-Con that left our jaws on the floor, one particular bit of news regarding the Black Widow movie sparked an odd connection between the third season of Stranger Things and the upcoming Marvel prequel.

In a bizarre twist of fate, it appears that David Harbour’s character in the upcoming Black Widow movie will be a Russian named Alexei Shostakov — also known as the Red Guardian. Although many fans were excited about the fact that Red Guardian would be making an appearance in a Marvel movie, some couldn’t help but notice that Harbour’s character shared a few traits with the ill-fated Russian scientist Dr. Alexei from season three of Stranger Things, a show in which Harbour also starred.

It didn’t take long for fans of both franchises to take to Twitter, pointing out the similarities between the two characters, as well as the irony of Harbour playing one of them:

And of course, some Stranger Things fans weren’t thrilled to have Alexei’s fate rubbed in their faces all over again. One person even compared the announcement to “salt on a wound”:

Similarities to other characters aside, though, there’s still plenty that you should know about Red Guardian before going into Black Widow. The Red Guardian has been described as a sort of “Soviet Captain America,” which, to be fair, is pretty accurate.

Alexei Shostakov was a KGB agent whose death was faked so that he could take up the mantle of Red Guardian. Similar to how Captain America was initially used as a political figure, the Russian government created Red Guardian in part to use him as propaganda during World War Two.

The character also has a long history with Black Widow. At one point, the two were in an arranged marriage, and Red Guardian has made frequent appearances in Black Widow comics over the years. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not any of the comic storylines factor into Natasha’s story in the new film.

But while it’s unclear just how much of Red Guardian’s comic backstory is going to be kept for the upcoming Black Widow movie, we’re excited to see David Harbour enter the MCU in any capacity. Still, let’s not hope this bodes ill for his fate on Stranger Things. 

Did you spot the connection between the two Alexeis? Are you excited for Black Widow? Sound off in the comments below.