Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

Black Widow: What All Of Red Guardian’s Tattoos Mean

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The Red Guardian, played by David Harbour, is one of Black Widow’s most colorful new characters — here are all of Alexei’s tattoos, explained.

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Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

Black Widow introduced the colorful character Red Guardian into the MCU — but just what do all of his tattoos mean? Alexei Shostakov, played by David Harbour, served as the surrogate father of Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) and Yelena (Florence Pugh) and his tattoos weren’t there in those flashback scenes. There is no evidence of these tattoos on a younger Alexei, meaning it’s likely most, if not all, of his tattoos were acquired during his time in a Russian prison, which makes sense as Russian prison tattoos are a long tradition. Still, if one looks closely at the Red Guardian’s ink, his life’s story is there to read on his skin.

Alexei and Melina (Rachel Weisz) were assigned to an undercover mission in Ohio in the ’90s, with Natasha and Yelena serving as their fake children to complete their charade. After Alexei allowed Natasha and Yelena to return to the Red Room, their reunion was less than heartwarming. Alexei is blinded by the longing for his good old days as the Red Guardian when he was the Soviet Union’s version of Captain America. But as he is reunited with his girls and his old “wife,” he’s reminded that there is more to life than his personal glory.

After spending years in prison, Alexei leaves covered in tattoos. Most of them represent the important things in his life: his country, his found family, and himself. Some, however, are just common tattoos among criminals and prisoners. Here is a breakdown of the Red Guardian’s tattoos, and what all of them mean.

Karl Marx And Vladimir Lenin

Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

One of Alexei’s most noticeable tattoos is the words “Karl Marx” across his knuckles. This is a mock of the “love-hate” tattoos that are traditionally found on knuckles. Karl Heinrich Marx was a German-born philosopher, political theorist, and social revolutionary. Marx wrote “The Communist Manifesto” and was the father of Marxism, a political theory that made up half of the Soviet Union’s political praxis. On his left abdomen, he has a tattoo of Vladimir Lenin’s head. Lenin was the Prime Minister and founder of the Russian Communist Party. Being a hero of the Soviet Union, it makes sense that the Red Guardian would want to pay tribute to these two men.

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Two-Headed Eagle

Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

The double-headed eagle, displayed proudly on Alexei’s chest, is another symbol of Russia. The double-headed eagle was once a major part of the Russian Empire’s coat of arms, though its use was eventually retired because of its connection to Tsarist rule. Oftentimes, this tattoo was done by prisoners during the Soviet Era to show rage and contempt against the regime; if Alexei got this tattoo in prison after Dreykov’s betrayal, it would make sense that he might feel some contempt for the people who imprisoned him. This symbol can also be seen on the Red Guardian’s shield in the comics.

Natasha And Yelena

Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

While Alexei tried to claim that their time in Ohio meant nothing to him, his tattoos say otherwise. On his arm, Alexei has a tattoo of two roses. Underneath the flowers are two names in Cyrillic script; Наташа and Елена, which translate into Natasha and Yelena. All these years later, it is clear that Alexei still carries affection for his girls. This is further highlighted in the way he remembered Yelena’s favorite song and his attempted confessions to Natasha. Even if his family was assigned to him, it was more than a job.

Melina

Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

Further evidence of Alexei’s love for his family comes in his tattoo of Melina. On his collarbone, Alexei has a tattoo of a young woman with a bobbed haircut. The word “love” (written in Cyrillic) underneath the photo reveals that Alexei missed his faux wife enough during his imprisonment that he got a tattoo of a young version of her, right above his heart, to keep Melina close to him until they’d be together again.

The Parapets

Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

Looking closely at Alexei’s eagle tattoo, there is a noticeable addition to it — one that Harbour told Variety was added to reduce the similarity to the Nazi eagle. The tower parapets are used to represent the amount of time the wearer has spent in prison; the more domes the cathedral has, the more time they’ve spent in prison. With decades of imprisonment under his belt, Alexei’s cathedral tattoo is rather intricate.

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The Eyes

Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

One of Alexei’s simpler tattoos is the pair of eyes that can be found on his chest. The eyes are another common Russian prison tattoo which means that the wearer is “watching over you.” While it is typically meant to imply the wearer is watching over fellow inmates, it’s possible it is another tattoo dedicated to his faux family, a promise to always watch over them. It is clear Alexei still followed his girls’ careers from prison, as he gushed over Yelena’s success as an assassin and Natasha’s career as Black Widow with the Avengers.

Prison Tattoos

Black Widow What All Of Red Guardians Tattoos Mean

Many of Alexei’s tattoos are common among prisoners. A spiderweb tattoo on the elbow is a traditional symbol of someone who has done time in prison. It is often used to represent feeling trapped or tangled in the prison system. While it has a complicated history with white supremacy groups, there is no evidence that Alexei belonged to any of these groups during his time in prison. Many Russian prison tattoos are used to denote the wearer’s criminal rankings. The eight-pointed stars found on Alexei’s shoulders are used to denote his status as a high-ranking criminal. The silhouette of a bird on his left arm can be indicative of a longing for freedom, while the scorpion on his right shoulder tells other prisoners he is not someone to be messed with.

Himself

If there’s anything Alexei loves as much as his country and his family, it’s himself. His glory days as the Red Guardian are what helped him get through his decades in prison, and upon escaping, one of his first desires was to get back into his old uniform. When one of his fellow inmates called his story about fighting Captain America a lie, Alexei broke his wrist. So it’s no surprise that Alexei has a tattoo of the Red Guardian and his own name. The Red Guardian tattoo is a large piece that takes up the entirety of his back and is the tattoo he was receiving during his arm wrestling scene.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/black-widow-red-guardian-tattoos-meaning/

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