Black Widow Deleted Scene Made Nat's Infinity War Set-Up More Impressive

One of Black Widow's deleted scenes involving Rick Mason (O-T Fagbenle) would have made his climactic setup in Avengers: Infinity War even more impressive. Mason was introduced in Black Widow as an ally of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) who worked as her fixer, acquiring everything from weapons to a place for the ex-Avenger on the run to hideout in Norway. Mason really outdid himself at the end of Black Widow when he presented Natasha with a Quinjet, which became Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and their fellow fugitive superheroes' main mode of transport in Infinity War.

Black Widow's solo outing reaffirmed how capable and heroic Natasha is even without the support of the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha is pulled back into action to help her "family" of Russian agents, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) take on the Red Room and its evil leader, Dreykov (Ray Winstone), the founder of the Black Widow program who ruined all of their lives. However, several times in Black Widow, Natasha turns to Rick Mason for help. Mason's skills at acquiring goods from the black market came in very handy, from procuring Black Widow suits and gear for Nat and Yelena to finding them a helicopter. Yet, meanwhile, it's also hinted that Mason had a murky past with S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of Black Widow's deleted scenes would have implied that Rick had even more hidden talents.

Black Widow's Rick Mason deleted scene shows the black market fixer was captured by Secretary Ross (William Hurt) in Norway after he gave Natasha and Yelena their helicopter. Mason is caged in a van while Ross' troops sack his hideout, and they find a transponder and note from Romanoff inviting Ross to find her. This helps set up how Ross arrived on the scene after Natasha crashed the sub-orbital Red Room at the end of the film. But what's really key is that if Mason is imprisoned by Ross, then it means the "debonair black market smuggler" who "sells himself to the highest bidder" (as Ross derisively calls Rick) would have had to escape, elude capture, and then somehow acquire the Quinjet right from under Ross' nose to gift to Natasha in Ohio in order to make Black Widow's ending possible.

Mason's background is deliberately kept vague and, besides his talent for acquisition, his main personality trait is his playful repartee with Natasha that denotes his crush on the Avenger. It's understandable why Black Widow cut Mason and Ross' scene since it helped the movie's pacing and it would have created the question of how Mason escaped, which wouldn't have a satisfactory answer in the film. Ultimately, Mason is just a minor, if crucial, supporting character in Natasha and Yelena's story and there wasn't room in Black Widow to delve into his past and skillset considering the movie already had four main protagonists in Nat, Yelena, Alexei, and Melina.

However, had the deleted scene stayed in Black Widow, it would have positively reflected on Natasha as well. Fans who wonder what Mason's deal is and why the elusive Black Widow would turn to him for her needs would have better understood Mason's true skill set. The deleted scene helps Natasha's trust and dependence on Mason make even more sense since he's also talented in espionage and shows the same disdain for Ross that Natasha does.

Of course, the fact that Mason magically presents Natasha with a Quinjet he mysteriously acquired to set up Avengers: Infinity War already makes Rick an impressive ally, but Black Widow's deleted scene would have implied he also has escape artist skills that rival Natasha Romanoff's. Perhaps Rick Mason's story will be further explored at a future point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which will render his Black Widow deleted scene moot.

Next: Why Black Widow Replaced Tony Stark's Cameo With Ross