General Dreykov was an evil overseer of the Red Room since at least mid-1980s. An influential man on the world stage despite remaining mostly hidden, he was seen in the company of world leaders such as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.[1]
History
Around 1993 Dreykov sent the only super-powered Soviet hero Red Guardian on an undercover mission to infiltrate the North Institute in Ohio. As part of his cover, Shostakov spent three years living in Ohio with his "wife" Melina and "daughters" Natasha and Yelena. Although the mission was a success and Shostakov was able to recover the data and burn down the North Institute, their cover was blown, and in 1996 the "family" had to flee to Cuba. Dreykov personally welcomed Shostakov, who delivered to him the mission objective while begging to be sent into the field of action, away from undercover work. Meanwhile, the girls were shipped back to Russia and put into the Red Room Program. At some point Shostakov and Dreykov had a falling out and Dreykov put the former Soviet hero into a Siberian prison for life.[1]
At some point in the 2000s, Natasha Romanoff, who had completed her Red Room training under the supervision of Madame B,[2] was on a mission in Budapest. S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Clint Barton was sent to kill her, but chose to recruit her instead. As part of her defection process, Romanoff sought to kill Dreykov. She used his young daughter Antonia to get to him and ordered Barton to detonate the explosives despite the girl being collateral damage.
While the entire building collapsed and Romanoff believed them both killed, neither of the Dreykovs was dead. The general remained unscathed, but Antonia was severely injured. Dreykov subjected her to extensive experimental enhancements, with a device fitted to the back of her head that enabled Antonia to remember and perfectly replicate the fighting styles of others by observing and studying their movements. The attempt on his life made Dreykov much more secretive: he stopped appearing in public to maintain the illusion of being dead, relocated the Red Room Academy to a mobile facility that eventually went airborne, and had all future Widows, including his daughter, subjected to a chemical mind control developed by Melina, as opposed to merely a psychological one.[1]
Around 2016, an older Widow from Melina's generation developed an antidote gas that immunized the brain's neuropathways from external manipulation. A group of Widows was send to recover it in Morocco, but Yelena Belova got doused with it and went on the run herself with the antidote. Dreykov deployed his daughter, "Taskmaster", after it. She tracked to package down to Norway and engaged Romanoff, Belova's sister, who was in possession of the antidote and was able to escape.
Determined to bring Dreykov down, Belova and Romanoff teamed up with their "mother" Melina and "father" Alexei Shostakov whom they rescued from the prison. Melina pretended to stay loyal to Dreykov, allowing Taskmaster and the Widows to take them prisoners to the Red Room. Dreykov realized the deception taking place with the Photostatic Veils and revealed to Romanoff that the Taskmaster was in fact his daughter whom Romanoff blamed herself for murdering. Dreykov sent Taskmaster to deal with other saboteurs while occupying himself with Romanoff.
After provoking him into hitting her in the face had no effect, Romanoff broke her own nose, counteracting the pheromone block. Meanwhile, Melina blew one of the engines which destabilized the structure, forcing everyone to make a frantic escape. Dreykov was escorted to an aircraft, but Belova risked her life to blow up its engine, causing the entire craft to crash and killing Dreykov in an explosion.[1]Attributes
Powers
- All Red Room personnel have a pheromonal block that prevents them from harming Dreykov while perceiving his smell.
Notes
- Ray Winstone portrayed General Dreykov in the film Black Widow.[3]
See Also
- 1 appearance(s) of General Dreykov (Earth-199999)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of General Dreykov (Earth-199999)
- 5 mention(s) of General Dreykov (Earth-199999)
- 3 image(s) of General Dreykov (Earth-199999)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Black Widow
- ↑ Marvel's Black Widow Prelude #1
- ↑ Edwards, Chris (24 March 2020) Black Widow reveals Ray Winstone's key role Digital Spy. Retrieved on July 18, 2020.