Jordan Vogt-Roberts, director of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid film, took to Twitter after the release of the Black Widow trailer to call attention to what he felt were similarities between the film and the video game franchise.
While acknowledging the existence of "parallel thinking" (where two creative people can come up with the same idea at the same time without either one being influenced by the other), Vogt-Roberts believes the similarities he saw in the trailer were too close to notable aspects of the Metal Gear Solid games.
His first pinkie point of contention was the new, white costume that Black Widow wears in the trailer. Vogt-Roberts asked his followers whether that outfit predated the similar outfit that the famous character, The Boss, debuted wearing in Metal Gear Solid 3.
When fans wrote in to note that the Black Widow first wore her white costume in 2010, Vogt-Roberts noted that that was six years after The Boss debuted. He also argued that the comic book version of the outfit was sleeker, while the film version was more tactical in design, which he feels makes it more similar to The Boss' costume design...
There are other minor issues that Vogt-Roberts drew attention to (like a scene with a bazooka on a helicopter that appeared in Metal Gear Solid), but the biggest other argument made by the director was over the fighting style created for Metal Gear Solid called "CQC."
CQC is a special form of combat in the Metal Gear Solid games that involves switching between armed combat and hand-to-hand combat in rapid succession...
Naturally, then, Vogt-Roberts drew a comparison to the fight sequence in the film between Natasha and her "sister"...
The director argues that Black Widow had specifically been shown using a dramatically different fighting style in her earlier film appearances...
He continues his Twitter thread by arguing that if a similar situation were to occur where a Japanese animation house or a video game had characters who looked like Wolverine or Captain America, then Marvel would likely sue over it. He compared it to when Marvel sued City of Heroes...
Vogt-Roberts finishes by wishing the best for the film, but still expressing his disappointment over the similarities, especially considering what he feels is the "deep reservoir Marvel has to draw from."