 This, this thing that you do when you whip your hair when you're fighting with the arm and the hair and you do like a fighting ball. In Ohio in 1995, young Natasha Romanoff plays with her surrogate sister Yelena Balova until Yelena scrapes her knee. They go to their mother, Melina Vostokov, who tends to the wound. Later, father Alexei Shostakov comes home and tells Melina they have to leave. They take the girls to a hangar where they prepare to board a plane before a team of shield agents pursues them. Alexei shoots at them while Melina tries to get the plane moving. She is shot, so Natasha must move up and take the controls while Alexei hangs on the wing. They manage to get the agents to crash all over the place before flying out of there. The four arrive in Cuba, where Melina is given medical attention as Alexei meets with a man named Drakov. When the nearby soldiers try to get the girls, Natasha swipes a gun off one soldier to defend Yelena. The men note that the girl has guts and both girls are tranquilized and taken away in a truck. A montage follows showing Natasha and Yelena, plus dozens of other kidnapped girls being taken to the red room where they are subjected to harsh procedures and training throughout their lives, shaping them into powerful black widow agents. 21 years later, Natasha is on the run after violating the Sokovia cords. General Fadius Thunderbolt Ross and his men close in on the building where she is located. Ross attempts to talk to Natasha, but she makes it clear she is not going quietly. She manages to escape before Ross can catch up to her. In Morocco, Yelena has her eyes on a target, Oxana. Yelena is spotted and she pursues Oxana on foot. The two fight until Yelena fairly stabs Oxana in the gut. She then sprays Yelena in the face with a synthetic red gas called red dust, which appears to break Yelena free from mind control. She realizes she just killed a close friend of hers. Yelena recovers the rest of the gas and removes a tracker from her body. Drakov is informed of this when Yelena's signal is lost and he goes to dispatch his super assassin, Taskmaster. Natasha moves to a safe house in Norway where she meets her contact, Rick Mason, who supplies her with items like passports or whatever she needs. She is also sent a mysterious package. Later that night, Natasha runs out of fuel and goes to get more, only for Taskmaster to ambush her on the bridge. Natasha tries to fight the assassin, but Taskmaster is capable of mimicking moves and is quick to defend himself. Taskmaster attempts to grab Natasha's package, but she already grabbed it before Taskmaster throws her off the bridge. Natasha finds that it is red dust, along with pictures of her and Yelena as children. Natasha travels to Budapest to find Yelena in her own safe house. The two engage in a fight until they call a truce before they literally strangle each other. Yelena tells Natasha about the red dust and its effects and she also lets her know that the red room is still active. Despite Natasha having believed it to be destroyed when she supposedly killed Drakov, Yelena mentions Drakov's daughter just before several black widows come after them. The two run out of the building and topple a tower, as Natasha has to shake one widow off as she falls to the ground. When Natasha gets down to the widow, she tells Natasha that Drakov is forcing her to do this just before Drakov has the widow kill herself. Just as Natasha and Yelena try to escape, Taskmaster appears and pursues them through the streets. They steal a car and drive as fast as they can, but Taskmaster fires an explosive arrow that sends the car rolling down into the subway. Natasha and Yelena run with Taskmaster following a trail of blood from Yelena's arm, but the two manage to divert Taskmaster's path as they hide. As Yelena tends to her arm, she brings up how Natasha believed that she killed Drakov at the cost of his daughter Antonia's life when trying to work for SHIELD. She was keeping watch outside his office when Antonia entered the building. When asked by an agent if they were clear to execute Drakov, Natasha said yes, despite Antonia being there and the building blew up, killing her. This has haunted Natasha ever since. Natasha and Yelena grab some supplies and get drinks while reminiscing about the past. With Yelena talking about the fake family they had and the training they went through, they know that in order to bring down Drakov in the Red Room for good, they need help. Natasha contacts Rick again and he procures a plane for her and Yelena. Alexei has been in prison, arm-wrestling other inmates while regaling them with stories about how he became Red Guardian, Russia's first and only super soldier. He tells the others that he battled Captain America, although another inmate believes it to be a lie and Alexei breaks his hand for it. The alarms go off as Natasha and Yelena fly in over the facility. Alexei uses his super strength to break out of the building, but the guards go after him and try to attack the plane. Natasha descends and engages in combat with the guards while Yelena fires a grenade at a tower. This causes an avalanche that buries the facility, but Natasha is able to grab Alexei in time. However, both she and Yelena aren't particularly happy to see them, since he and Yelena lied to them as kids. When they ask Alexei if he knows where to find Drakov, he tells them that Yelena might have an idea. The three make a rough landing near a farm, where Yelena is using mind control on pigs. She reunites with her former fake family, and Alexei openly flirts with her, which grosses out Natasha and Yelena. He even goes to try on his old Red Guardian outfit, but he struggles to get it on due to gaining weight. While sitting at the table, things get tense, as Natasha says that nothing from their past was real. Yelena is brought to tears, as she believed their family to be real. Later, Yelena tells Natasha that her birth mother was relentlessly searching for her, until Drakov had her killed. At the same time, Alexei tries to continue being a father figure to Yelena. Although she is still too angry at him, until he sings American Pie, which was her favorite song when they lived in Ohio. Moments later, Drakov's agents arrive, having been contacted by Yelena. They subdue Natasha, Yelena, and Alexei before being taken away. The group arrives at the Red Room, which is located on an aerial base for the utmost discretion. Molina is brought to Drakov. Although it turns out to be Natasha, wearing a disguise. This was part of a plan she staged with Molina back at the house. With Molina taking Natasha's place in the prison cell, since she knows how to open the doors to free herself and Alexei. Yelena nearly has her head cut open, until Molina talks to her via an earpiece, to inform her of a blade she can use to free herself. Meanwhile, Drakov reveals several things to Natasha. First, he is protected himself with a pheromone as a protective shield that prevents any soldiers from attacking him. Then he brings out Taskmaster, who is revealed to be Antonia, having survived the explosion with facial disfigurement, and her father has her mind controlled into being the perfect super soldier. He then shows Natasha the files of all the girls around the world, that he has their mind controlled. When confronted by guards, Molina blows up one of the engines on the red room, sending several guards falling, but also causing the whole facility to begin tumbling toward the ground. Alexei fights Antonia, while Yelena and Molina battle the guards, until Molina helps Alexei trap Antonia in one of the cells. Natasha then smashes her face against Drakov's desk to break her nose, to block out the pheromone as per Molina's advice, allowing her to attack Drakov. He brings in other widows to attack Natasha as he makes his getaway, but Yelena sends the red dust to the room, blowing it up and breaking the widows from their mind control. Natasha tells them to go free, and she stops to release Antonia from her cell, despite acknowledging that she will go after her. The red room starts to come apart even more, prompting everyone to make it outside to escape. Alexei and Molina make their escape, unable to wait for Natasha and Yelena. Drakov and his guards board their getaway craft, but Yelena takes electric batons and jams them into the turbine, causing the ship to explode and blow up Drakov and the guards. Yelena is thrown from the impact, but Natasha jumps and reaches her in time to give her a parachute. Antonia catches up to Natasha and fights her when they land on the ground. Natasha opens her helmet and sprays her with the red dust, freeing her from her father's control. Natasha is met by Yelena, Alexei, Molina, and the other widows, who take Antonia in for recovery. Natasha bids farewell to her former family as Ross and his team start making their way toward the location. Two weeks later, Natasha now has blonde hair and meets up with Rick again as he has gotten her a jet. She is set to help break out the other Avengers from prison and reunite with her second family. In post-credits scene, it is now 2024. Yelena goes with her new dog to Natasha's grave, following her sacrifice in Endgame. As she mourns her sister, she is met by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who now has Yelena under her employment. She gives Yelena a file on her next target, the one apparently responsible for Natasha's death, Hawkeye.