Alexei Shostakov was the Red Room’s antithesis to Captain America, down to the super-soldier serum and the indestructible shield. But while he would proudly serve his country and adore the hero worship from his people, Alexei would find himself in a special mission: going undercover as a family man. While he would not be enthusiastic about this at first, he would come to love and appreciate the new people in his life, especially his two adopted daughters, Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova. He was not a perfect father by any means, and even reuniting with them years later was rocky at best, but he still tried his hardest to make up for his past mistakes. Not only would he help Yelena work through her depression, but he also became a founding member of the New Avengers (despite no one knowing who he is to this day).
Origins
But of course, as is the case with many MCU iterations, the life of Alexei’s comic book counterpart would vary significantly from the one we’re most familiar with. While his childhood and early life are largely unknown at the moment, his record begins with his career as a test pilot for the Soviet Union. During this time, the KGB was looking for a candidate to become the new Red Guardian, as the previous one from WWII (Alexei Lebedev) was basically discarded and forgotten. Shostakov’s remarkable dedication and service to Russia inadvertently made him the perfect candidate to take up the mantle, so the KGB recruited him. However, it was not as simple as one would think. First, being in league with the Red Room, the KGB sought to cement her loyalty to them by manipulating a marriage between her and Alexei, only to have Alexei fake his death soon after. This faked death would also serve another purpose: severing his ties to his past life so they could rebuild Alexei into their champion. Although he was never given a super-soldier serum like Steve Rogers was, he was still trained to peak human condition, given his own costume, and even his own shield. Finally, the Soviets found their own “Captain America.”
However, cracks would eventually form in the foundation of Alexei’s loyalty. Some time after Black Widow defected from the Red Room and joined S.H.I.E.L.D., Shostakov was sent to a Chinese facility to help build a hallucination-inducing machine called the Psychotron. Once S.H.I.E.L.D. caught wind of their operations, they sent Black Widow to respond, but she got captured. A couple of Avengers who also responded to this crisis—Hawkeye and Hercules—were also captured, prompting the rest of the team to storm the base. In the chaos, Widow attempted to destroy the Psychotron, but the head of the base cut her off and was about to kill her. Wanting to rescue his former wife, Shostakov protected her as she successfully destroyed the machine, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the whole base. Alexei was presumed dead, so he retired from the mantle and became an adviser to the Bulgarian government. However, that career soon ended after a complicated but failed negotiation with the USA over a prisoner release (which involved the capture of Black Widow in exchange for said prisoner—Viper). Afterwards, Alexei would adopt the Ronin identity for a while before becoming the Red Guardian again. After going through more alliances and complicated interactions with Natasha, Alexei would team up with Yelena Belova to steal Russian data on Operation Snowblind. However, he would turn on Yelena and, after the data drive was destroyed in the confrontation, flee to the criminal island of Madripoor. According to marvel.com, that would be the last recorded action of the second Red Guardian.
Powers and Abilities
Once again, the MCU takes advantage of its artistic license with the cinematic iterations of these characters, as Alexei never received the super-soldier serum in the comics. However, he more than makes up for it, as should be expected from a man handpicked to be the Soviet “Captain America.” Thanks to years of extremely intense training under the Soviets, Alexei has been pushed to the absolute limits that a human body can reach: his combat abilities, reflexes, agility, and endurance border on superhuman. This means he can keep up with Steve Rogers in a fight, as if he really did have the serum pumping through his veins. In many ways, this also makes him similar to the Winter Soldier: both of them have aggressive styles, ruthless efficiency in close-quarters combat, are trained in espionage, and use calculated methods to overwhelm opponents. However, whereas Bucky fights like a weapon or an assassin, Alexei fights more like a soldier and a symbol. Fully embracing his Soviet image, Alexei fights with rigid discipline and control, and also confidently displays his national pride and imposing stature. This drives him to trade blows with opponents that match or exceed his strength, ignoring any pain or fear while he pushes back with relentless pressure.
In addition to an already impressive proficiency in combat, Alexei also possesses a variety of skills that can aid just as well in a fight. For instance, even before the KGB drafted him, Alexei was already one of Russia’s greatest test pilots. While Marvel doesn’t elaborate much on that part of his past, it’s still implied that Alexei possesses knowledge of how to fly and operate aircraft. Further, since operating as a Cold War test pilot already involved extreme risks (flying unstable prototypes, pushing the craft to its limits, etc.), it instilled a greater sense of survival, situational awareness, and fearlessness. Aside from this, Alexei is also proficient with his shield. While the shield is not made of vibranium like Steve’s, its metal alloy composition still provides strong protection, keeping him safe from many forms of danger. It also serves as a great weapon, since he can throw it and ricochet it off of opponents, or swing it like a blunt instrument while mixing it with his close-quarters combat. But if the shield fails for whatever reason, or if he needs to switch things up, Alexei still has one last trick up his sleeve. Attached to his belt is a small but durable metal disc, which he can use as a projectile and even recall it using magnetic devices inside the disc. Throwing the shield is just as efficient, but it’s bigger and slightly slower, so enemies can easily spot and deflect or block it. On the other hand, the disc is smaller and faster, meaning it could hit a target before they even know what hit them.
But sometimes, surprise and strength aren’t enough to win battles. Alexei may be at peak human conditioning, but he’s far from perfect. Firstly, there’s the glaring factor that he does not have the super-soldier serum coursing through his veins, as his MCU counterpart does. This means he can be outmatched in strength, speed, and endurance when fighting real super-soldiers (like Captain America) or any superpowered being. However, even if he can keep going in spite of that, Alexei still risks giving his opponents an advantage the longer he fights. While countless years of Soviet training made him a strong and effective fighter, Alexei tends to rely more on the drills and styles he’s learned rather than adapting his style as Steve Rogers would. Further, having been conditioned to embody Soviet pride and discipline, he will push himself farther than even he can handle. Confusingly, he could also unconsciously hold himself back with the controlled way he fights, unlike the ruthless “go-straight-for-the-kill” approach that Bucky takes. Yet even if Alexei can push through these obstacles, there’s always one that he can’t ever seem to clear: Natasha. Alexei is always 100% loyal to whoever he works for, whether it’s the Soviets, the Bulgarians, or whoever. But despite all the conditioning the Soviets put him through, his former wife is the one thing he can’t ever seem to leave behind. When she stormed that one base with the Avengers, Alexei decided to protect her rather than stop his adversaries. When the USA wanted Viper, he convinced the Bulgarians to ask for Natasha’s capture. Overall, if pieces of Alexei’s past (like Natasha) surface in the right conditions, they can affect Alexei’s judgment and cost him the mission. But it only comes to show that you can try your hardest to bury an identity, yet for all your efforts, it’ll always find a way to come back up.
Greatest Feats
Where the Soviets would see this as a failure or a hindrance, the resurfacing of Alexei’s true self proved to be his greatest strength. In fact, it was so strong that it prompted his most iconic feats in one story (much like Mr. Fantastic).
In this case, all three feats come from a piece of his origin that we’ve briefly covered previously. For instance, when Alexei was sent to oversee the Chinese base under Colonel Ling, there were many more layers to this mission than one would expect. When Natasha infiltrated the base, Alexei didn’t immediately encounter her because Ling’s forces moved in while he was dealing with the simultaneous intrusions from Hawkeye and Hercules. It was only when the heroes were defeated and captured that Alexei finally reunited with the woman he loved. By this point, Natasha had no idea Alexei had survived or that he had been operating as the Red Guardian. Faced with the choice of maintaining his secrecy or revealing the truth, he chose to unmask himself without hesitation. While the revelation shocked Natasha, it marked a defining moment for Alexei. Rather than remaining the obedient symbol the Soviet Union intended him to be, he asserted his humanity and refused to abandon the part of his life that still mattered to him.
However, despite the lapse in professionalism, Alexei soon returned to duty when the Avengers arrived on the scene. Specifically, when he finally encountered Captain America for the first time. But this became more than an obligation to protect Ling and his base; it even became more than winning a fist-fight. Instead, it evolved into a battle of symbols and ideals. Steve Rogers fought as a symbol of freedom and independence (both politically and morally), while Alexei Shostakov pushed back as the embodiment of control and conformity. One chose to be a hero; the other was forced into the role. Regardless, Alexei fought Steve with everything he had, fueled by pride in his country and a desire for dominance over the system that would threaten it. Eventually, while Alexei was able to keep up and trade blows with the enhanced soldier, Steve gained the upper hand. But Ling wouldn’t accept defeat, so he activated an electrified panel that knocked Rogers out cold. This would further prompt Alexei’s true identity to resurface, as he was outraged at the underhanded tactic. He wanted victory against America’s icon, to further his nation’s own system, but only in an honorable way. In this moment, Alexei wasn’t a symbol for his country; he was a man with a (somewhat) moral code.
And it would be this same code that sealed Alexei’s fate. After the Avengers regained the upper hand, Natasha set out to complete her mission: destroying the psychotron. However, Colonel Ling wasn’t about to let that happen, so he prepared to shoot her where she stood. Instead, Alexei would attempt to thwart his former superior before taking the bullet for his defiance. This allowed Natasha to successfully destroy the machine, triggering the aforementioned chain reaction that would destroy the base and evade Ling’s wrath. As the Avengers were evacuating their forces, Hercules was carrying the unconscious Captain America through the crumbling structure. But Ling, outraged and unwilling to allow America’s champion to escape, prepared yet again to fire his gun. Alexei, barely alive after the near-fatal wound, interfered once again and pointed Ling’s gun at some gas pipes, furthering the base’s complete annihilation. Alexei didn’t do this out of the goodness of his heart, but instead out of a refusal to allow an unconscious yet worthy opponent to be struck down. Further, he prevented an unjust end while already bleeding out and dying himself, and no amount of intense training and programming can prevent that. Regardless, Alexei got back up, defying the forces that created him to prevent needless deaths and save the ones he loves and respects.
Conclusion
Just like Yelena, Alexei Shostakov is not who we’re most fondly familiar with. Instead of the comic relief and caring father figure, we get a rigid Soviet soldier who struggles to regain his identity and soul. Again, like Yelena, I must say that I much prefer the MCU iteration of this character, especially after watching David Harbour’s heartwarming performance in “Thunderbolts.” But love and humor can only go so far against the Master of Science and Sorcery, so it’ll be very interesting to see how Alexei will react upon realizing how massive a threat Doom really is.
