- "Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or I was."
- ―Natasha Romanoff [src]
Natalia Alianovna "Natasha" Romanoff, also known as Black Widow, was a former high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She was instructed by Nick Fury to assess the suitability of Tony Stark for the Avenger Initiative. The report she filed with S.H.I.E.L.D. found that Stark was unsuitable for it, but the Iron Man armor would be beneficial to the Initiative. She is a founding member of the Avengers and the only female founder of the group.
Natasha also played a crucial role in combating and defeating the HYDRA forces that had taken control of S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha was in hiding to establish a new cover identity, after all the identities she had previously used were compromised when she leaked S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets to the internet.
Natasha assembled with the Avengers to locate Loki's Scepter and later to defeat Ultron. She was an active member of the Avengers before her death when Natasha sacrificed herself so that Clint Barton could get the Soul Stone.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Natalia Alianova Romanoff was born in Russia in 1984 and went on to become a world-class assassin in the employ of the KGB. She reportedly began training towards the life of an assassin when she was just a child under Madame B in the Red Room, and her ruthless effectiveness in later years earned her the codename, "Black Widow". At some point this life underwent a dramatic change when she was targeted for assassination herself, and the agent sent to kill her was the similarly gifted soldier, Clint Barton. Instead of killing her, Barton spared her life because he had a certain respect for her and the pair developed a lasting partnership and friendship that soon lived on. Following Barton, Black Widow was drawn into a new life as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
I Am Iron Man![]
After Stark rejected the offer to join the Avenger Initiative, Fury told Coulson to inform Natasha that they may need her services.
Iron Man 2: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[]
Black Widow was tasked to get a job in Stark industries, to get closer to Tony Stark under the alias of Natalie Rushman, a woman named Samantha Carlisle was originally meant to send some documents to Tony Stark, so Natasha put a pill in Sam's drink, making her sick, so she was tasked to send the documents to Stark.
Iron Man 2[]
- "I'm surprised you can keep your mouth shut."
- ―Natasha Romanoff[src]
Natasha became the new assistant for Tony Stark, who on the day she arrived, told her to go into the boxing ring while he Googled her finding out that she could speak French, Russian and Latin. While she was still in the ring, Happy Hogan teased about punching her but she tackled him to the ground. She then assisted Tony while he was in Monaco. She attended Tony's birthday party and flirted with him and he started to get suspicious about where she had come from.
She appeared with Nick Fury when he talked to him in Randy's Donuts, Tony was shocked when he saw her in a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, Fury revealed her true name and she gave Tony an injection. Natasha along with Fury and Phil Coulson went to Tony's house and she was told by Fury that she will stay acting as an assistant. Even after Tony learned that Romanoff was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she stayed on as his assistant more to keep a eye on him than anything.
Later at Stark Industries while Tony was visiting Pepper Potts, Natasha came in and requested for Potts to sign something. When Potts left, Tony started to grill Natasha and tells her that he finds it amazing that she does what she does. Tony claims she could not speak other languages, Natasha replies in Latin, saying the phrase "Fallaces sunt rerum species", part of a famous quote from Seneca, meaning "the appearance of things is deceptive." Tony, unknowing of what the phrase means, asks her to translate, but she instead replies saying that he can either leave or that she can have him collected.
Natasha was attending the Stark Expo show, when Ivan Vanko took control of the Hammer Drones. Natasha ran out and found Happy Hogan and told him to drive the car to get her to Hammer Industries. After changing into a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform during the drive, she broke into Hammer Industries to stop the drones. She encountered and took out several security men. Using technology at Hammer Industries, she managed to get control over War Machine's suit.
Fury's Big Week[]
- "These are gods and monsters and machines of war we're mixed up with."
- ―Natasha Romanoff [src]
Natasha contacted Director Fury during Stark and Rhodey's battle in his Malibu home. She filled him in on the situation; when he offers to come, she told him not to. The next day, in which Fury confronted Tony, Natasha was handed the needle filled with lithium dioxide and was instructed by Fury to "stick him in the neck". After a brief conversation with Agent Phil Coulson about his departure to New Mexico, Natasha was present at the Stark Expo battle reprogamming Rhodey's War Machine. She then retrieved Hammer Industries data before Ivan Vanko's bombs went off.
Returning to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters with the data, she was given orders by a stressed Fury to go to Culver University and get eyes on Bruce Banner. She arrived and witnessed Banner get locked in the bridge by General Ross and his troops; Banner then transformed and a battle ensued. She called Fury and barely escaped uninjured. She revealed to Fury that she witnessed Emil Blonsky in action against the Hulk and that they enhanced him. Fury was forced to deploy Natasha to Empire State University after Ross revealed, in a short conversation, that he intended to capture Banner. She arrived too late, however, and informed Fury over the phone that Ross captured Bruce and was taking him away in a helicopter.
Natasha was then ordered to make sure that Bruce didn't leave anything for Dr. Samuel Sterns, who he had recently been with, to work on. As she headed up the front steps, she witnessed Blonsky, now as Abomination, emerge from the building. She was buried in rubble, but still managed to make her way upstairs. She stumbled upon Dr. Sterns, who's mutation had greatened significantly, and his brain power had been augmented exponentially. After a brief dialogue with him, during which Sterns identified Black Widow's birth place from a hint of accent in her voice, Natasha shot him the leg.
She called in a S.H.I.E.L.D. cleanup team, and signaled her location on the roof with flares. She saw the chaos of Abomination and Hulk's battle in the distance. Back at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, she confronted Fury, stating that all of the events going on were too much to handle. Later, she was revealed to have been dispatched to Asia.
Black Widow Strikes[]
Natasha arrived in Moscow, Russia disguised as Tatiana Sokolova. While there she encountered and later defeated Sofia who was trying to take the mantle of the "Black Widow".
Avengers Initiative[]
As part of a test, Barton entered the Helicarrier in disguise and downloaded a file about the members that were in consideration for the Avengers Initiative. He was then attacked by Black Widow. Barton was shot with a Ray Gun by Black Widow. Fury arrived and Barton told him that he should have informed him that the Widow had a Ray Gun. But Fury told him that it would have negative effects, as the test had to be realistic as possible.
The Avengers[]
- "This is nothing we were ever trained for."
- ―Natasha Romanoff[src]
Even in her short career at S.H.I.E.L.D., agent Natasha Romanoff a.k.a Black Widow has turned covert espionage into an art form. Armed with an extensive complement of "widow bites" and cluster bombs, as well as a vast repertoire of martial arts and wushu training, Romanoff's skill-set seems to know no bounds.
Natasha was knocked unconscious and tied to a chair by Georgi Luchkov, and appeared to be being interrogated when in fact she was the one interrogating him. Phil Coulson calls and tells her that Agent Barton has been compromised so she broke free from her restraints and knocked out Luchkov's henchmen before being sent to collect Bruce Banner. Natasha pays a child to act like her father is sick and leads Banner to a shack on the outskirts of the town. Natasha approaches Bruce and tells him that he needs to help them. Bruce asked her "What if I say no?". She responded saying "I'll persuade you", this was her way of saying that she had several agents outside who were ready to take on the Hulk at any given moment. After Bruce agreed, she introduced him to Steve Rogers, a.k.a "Captain America".
Once Loki is captured, Natasha talks to him in his holding cell and he taunts her claiming that he will make Clint kill her. His threat was after she revealed to Loki that she and Clint had a history with each other. She corrects Loki, claiming that "Love is for Children"; and that she owes him a debt for sparing her life and recruiting her to SHIELD. Loki lets slip that the "monster" is already on board of the helicarrier; through that it is revealed that Natasha was actually the one manipulating Loki, and she had been in control the whole time. Deducing that he plans to use the Hulk so Romanoff warns Director Fury. Loki summons some guards, including Hawkeye, to the Helicarrier and Hawkeye uses an explosive arrow to destroy one of the four engines. Natasha and Bruce are thrown through a window by an explosion and Bruce loses control and changes into the Hulk despite Natasha's attempts to keep him focused. She manages to get her leg free from the debris that was on top of her and begins to run because the Hulk is attacking her. He easily catches her and knocks into a wall. However, she was saved by Thor before the Hulk could kill her. Fury asks someone to stop Hawkeye and she swallows her terror and volunteers. Just as Clint is about to leave, she attacks him and the two of them viciously fight. Although he keeps her at bay for a short time, Natasha breaks his hypnotic state by smashing his head against a metal railing, knocking him unconscious. She then visits him in the recovery room where he is free from Loki's spell, wanting to take action against the God of Mischief. Clint admitted to her his disbelief of the Avengers being able to stop Loki and his remorse about the people he killed.
Natasha, Clint and Steve seek Loki, who releases his army so the Avengers are forced to assemble and battle the onslaught of alien invaders. Fighting alongside Steve and Clint, Natasha's martial arts skills and small arms were ideal for battling the Chitauri in the streets, and when her own weaponry was spent, she made good use of Chitauri armaments turned on their previous owners. Eventually she captured one of their aircraft and used it to reach the top of Stark Tower where she was instrumental in dealing with the device that held the portal open, thus sealing the rift and barring the amassed forces still waiting to pass through. Natasha and Clint shared a drink while S.H.I.E.L.D. and Strike came in and secured the Tesseract and Chitauri Scepter which Natasha handed over to them willingly.
When the battle was over, Romanoff gathered with the others to see off Thor and the captive Loki. The threat had been neutralised and for a time the world would have little need of its protectors. The others went their separate ways, while Romanoff and Barton returned to S.H.I.E.L.D.
Thor: The Dark World Prelude[]
After Thor killed a Leviathan, Black Widow asked Captain America what he thought of Thor now, Cap stated that he "still dresses funny". Hawkeye looked at Cap and replied "look who's talking".
Iron Man 3 Prelude[]
After Loki was defeated, James Rhodes arrived in New York to help out Tony. Rhodes located Stark in a Shawarma restaurant where he was introduced to Natasha and the other Avengers.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[]
To be added
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Infinite Comic[]
Natasha infiltrated the terrorist cell of a man named "Baker" using the alias "Audrey". Posing as Audrey, Natasha spent several weeks undercover determining what Baker's plan for Zodiac was.
Upon discovering Baker's plan to release the Zodiac in the Willis Tower in Chicago during the height of the day, killing all within, Natasha alerted Cap.
Natasha, Cap and Agent Brock Rumlow confronted Baker's cell in the Skydeck of Willis Tower, and after a brief combat, subdued the terrorists, and recovered the Zodiac.
Captain America: Homecoming[]
Upon receiving intel that Nobel-prize winning scientist Professor Amanat was in danger of abduction by the mercenary group known as the Cadre, Director Fury dispatched Rogers and Natasha Romanoff to Rogers' old neighborhood in Brooklyn on protection detail. Under the guise of showing Natasha the places that he grew up, they managed to draw out the Cadre mercenaries that had set-up in multiple locations throughout the neighborhood. Tracing the mercenary that had abducted Amanat through a maze of alleyways, Cap succeeded in taking out the last mercenary with a little help from Amanat herself.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier[]
- "You do anything fun Saturday night?"
- ―Natasha Romanoff to Steve Rogers[src]
After the events in New York with The Avengers, Natasha became a frequent comrade-in-arms of Steve Rogers when they were assigned on missions together. During one rescue mission of a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. ship, Nick Fury assigned Black Widow a secret side task to retrieve confidential protected S.H.I.E.L.D. files in a flash drive. The data was more sensitive than she could have guessed, and once it was handed over to Fury he became the target of an assassin. When Romanoff heard that Fury had been gunned down she went to the hospital to keep vigil, and watched helplessly as he was declared dead. Based on Steve's description of the shooter, she identified the killer as the Winter Soldier.
Steve became a fugitive from S.H.I.E.L.D. under the orders of Alexander Pierce after hiding details of Fury's death, and Natasha joined him to help him retrieve the confidential files from the flash drive, which Fury had already given to Rogers. Natasha tried to hack the protected files but could only discover the location from where they were created, Camp Lehigh.
There, Steve and Natasha discovered a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base where the consciousness of Arnim Zola revealed that after World War II, he had been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., and that he and other German scientists had furthered Hydra's plans for world domination through numerous projects, including the infiltration and influence of S.H.I.E.L.D. Romanoff interrupted Zola's lengthy exposition of HYDRA's activities when her PDA alerted her to an incoming missile. She and Rogers narrowly escaped the resulting blast, and then left the scene before S.H.I.E.L.D. could find them.
The following day, Steve and Natasha sought help from Sam Wilson, who they then pulled into their circle of allies by recovering a flight-exoskeleton for him. The trio then captured and interrogated Jasper Sitwell to find out about the conspiracy festering within S.H.I.E.L.D. Under pressure, Sitwell revealed his allegiance to Hydra and that HYDRA planned to use Project Insight to massacre the millions of people identified as threats to HYDRA's new world order.
Steve, Sam and Natasha were later attacked by the Winter Soldier and team of Hydra double agents. Natasha suffered a bullet wound in her shoulder while trying to elude the Winter Soldier, and Steve was left stunned by the revelation that the Winter Soldier was his old friend Bucky. With the fight taken out of them, the three heroes were easily captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., but while being transported under guard they were rescued by a disguised Maria Hill, who brought them to a hideout where Nick Fury was alive and recuperating. Fury revealed a plan to prevent Pierce from launching Project Insight, involving the replacement of the controller chip of each one of the Insight helicarriers.
Natasha infiltrated the Triskelion disguised as Councilwoman Hawley of the World Security Council, and was taken hostage with the other councillors by Pierce as soon as Steve revealed over the public address system the truth about HYDRA controlling S.H.I.E.L.D., and Pierce being their leader. But Natasha dropped her cover and subdued Pierce. She then revealed Nick Fury's survival, and forced Pierce to help Fury release the secrets of S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA to the world, as top-level two agents were required to do so. As the files were being uploaded, Pierce activated devices in the security badges of the rest of the Security Council, which killed them. He then attempted to use Natasha for leverage to escape, but she used a micro-EMP device on herself, disabling the badge, and giving time for Fury to shoot Pierce, killing him. The two then escaped the Triskelion in a helicopter to rescue, also rescuing Sam when a helicarrier crashed into the building.
Natasha later appeared before a Senate subcommittee, in which she defended the dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D. When asked by military officials as to why they shouldn't imprison her for the newly-revealed crimes that she had committed against the U.S., she responded that people like her were needed to defend the world.
She later approached Fury's "grave" to say goodbye to Steve, stating that with all of her covers blown, she had to find a new identity. She encouraged him to romantically pursue Agent 13, whom she identifies Sharon before passing him a dossier from the Ukraine on the Winter Soldier.
Avengers: Operation HYDRA[]
To be added
Avengers: Age of Ultron[]
- "We have no place in the world."
- ―Black Widow[src]
Black Widow reassembled with the Avengers in Sokovia as they attempted to take down Strucker's base and repossess Loki's Scepter. When the battle was over, she used her lullaby to calm the Hulk down and convert him back to Banner. On the plane ride back to Avengers Tower, Widow spoke to Banner about trusting her and he responded standoffishly.
At Tony Stark's party, Romanoff behaved flirtatiously towards an aloof Banner. She walked away and Rogers suggested to Banner that she likes him, despite his rejection of the notion. When everyone tried lifting Thor's hammer, she refused to participate on the basis that she didn't want an answer to such a question. Ultron attacked the party and she used a hidden gun as a weapon. She and the rest of the team then pursued Ultron to Africa.
In South Africa, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor confronted Ultron while Black Widow and Hawkeye remained covert. A battle ensued and Widow was rendered incapacitated by Scarlet Witch and her telekinesis. Widow saw a vision of her time with the KGB and recalled the intense training she went through as well as the painful sterilization ensuring that her life as an assassin went without distractions.
In the aftermath of the incident in Africa, Hawkeye brought Widow and the team to his home to remain undercover. In a moment along with Banner, she brought up the possibility of them pursing a romantic relationship. Knowing how dangerous the Hulk is, he rejected the idea and wanted to protect her. Romanoff opened up about her time at the KGB and described herself as a monster, hoping that he would change his mind. The team later regrouped, formulated a plan and split up. Black Widow joined Captain America and Hawkeye to Seoul to check on Dr. Helen Cho.
The three Avengers battled Ultron in order to recover her synthetic-tissue technology. They succeeded in doing so but Ultron took Widow hostage.
Black Widow woke up in the Sokovian HYDRA base that Ultron was now using as his headquarters. Ultron terrorised her with a discussion of his plan. She set up equipment using resources and sent a message in Morse code to Hawkeye at Avengers Tower. When the Avengers, the twins and the Vision traveled to Sokovia, Banner was sent to the lab in order to free her. She declared her love for him, kissed him passionately and shoved him off a cliff, turning him into Hulk. The two left the base and joined the fray.
Widow fought the Ultron drones and helped civilians to safety. At the end of the battle, she sent a message to Hulk, who was now alone in a jet flying towards an unknown location and tried to reason with him to bring him back to Sokovia. Much to her dismay, Hulk turned off the monitor.
At the new Avengers facility, she was approached by Nick Fury who learned about a jet that crashed in the Pacific Ocean. She hoped Banner was okay and Fury offered soothing words. She then met up with Captain America and the two discussed how they were going, to begin with the new Avengers recruits.
Ant-Man[]
After being bested by Ant-Man, Falcon told Natasha via headset to not tell Steve.
Captain America: Civil War[]
- "I know how Bucky means much to you, Stay out of this one. please, You'll only make this worse."
- ―Natasha Romanoff[src]
Despite Natasha's loyalty and friendship with Steve Rogers since the early days of the now-defunct S.H.I.E.L.D., she disagrees with his position and in a surprise move joins Tony Stark's team, in support of governmental oversight. Always strategic in her thinking and heroic in her actions, Black Widow is an asset that Tony needs - but one that he cannot control. During the final battle, Natasha betrays Iron Man and sides with Captain America near the end of the fight, successfully holding off Black Panther for Captain America and Bucky so they can deal with Helmut Zemo. She reveals she has been on Steve's side the entire time, she just prefers to do things her way, eventually forcing her to go on the run from the government.
Black Widow[]
- "I'm done running from my past."
- ―Natasha Romanoff[src]
Natasha was on the run after the Avengers Civil War. Thaddeus Ross was trying to track her down along with the rest of the rogue Avengers. She got in contact with Rick Mason who supplied her with a trailer. He also collected her mail from the famous Budapest Safehouse that her and Clint Barton used to share. Midway through the night the trailer ran out of gas so she had to get more. On her drive home, Natasha was attacked by Taskmaster who was looking for some vials which were to de-brainwash the Black Widows. Natasha jumped off the bridge and managed to make her way to the Budapest safehouse. There she met Yelena and they fought before calling a truce. She found out that the Red Room was still active.
The Widows attacked under the command of Dreykov but Natasha and Yelena escaped. During the escape, Natasha tried to save a falling Widow but she was brainwashed and killed herself before Natasha could help.
Spider-Man: Homecoming[]
- "I got a hot date with Black Widow coming up."
- ―Flash Thompson[src]
To be added
Captain Marvel Prelude[]
To be added
Avengers: Infinity War Prelude[]
To be added
Avengers: Infinity War[]
To be added
Captain Marvel[]
Natasha, along with the rest of the Avengers, utterly defeated, returned to the New Avengers Facility to plan their next move to help the world either recover from the Decimation or undo it if possible. Discovering the pager used by Fury, they took it along with them. As Natasha and Steve watched in absolute despair and horror as the amount of casualties won't stop increasing, Natasha agrees despondently when Steve comments on it being a nightmare, stating she has had better nightmares, which is a lot coming from her. When the pager turned off, they were all at a loss as to why. As Natasha turned to leave, she found Captain Marvel waiting and asking where Fury was.
Avengers: Endgame[]
Three weeks after the Decimation, the Avengers tracked Thanos down in order to use the Infinity Stones to reverse the destruction. However, Thanos had destroyed the Stones, preventing their use again and was subsequently killed by Thor Odinson for his actions.
Five years later, Romanoff runs the New Avengers Facility and coordinated with Nebula, Rocket Raccoon, Carol Danvers, Okoye, and James Rhodes in their efforts to protect what was left of the universe. She also had Rhodes search for Clint Barton who had turned into a violent vigilante after losing his entire family to Thanos. As Steve Rogers visited her, they were both shocked by the appearance of Scott Lang who was believed to have died in the Decimation. Scott revealed that he had been trapped in the Quantum Realm which gave him the idea to use it to travel back in time and set things right. Romanoff tracked down Clint in Tokyo and convinced her old friend to rejoin the Avengers in an effort to reverse Thanos' destruction.
During the planning for the mission, it was Romanoff who realized that there were three Infinity Stones in New York in 2012, the Time, Space and Mind Stones, simplifying their search. Romanoff joined the team going to 2014, traveling to Vormir with Clint to retrieve the Soul Stone while Nebula and Rhodes got the Power Stone. On Vormir, Red Skull revealed to Romanoff that her father's name was Ivan, something that she admitted she didn't know and told them that one of them must sacrifice someone they loved to get the Stone. Romanoff and Clint argued over who would die, Romanoff wanting to sacrifice herself so that Clint could get his family back. When Clint threw himself off of the cliff, Romanoff attached a line to Clint anchoring him to the top of the cliff while she dangled from his hand. When Clint refused to let her go, Romanoff forced herself free of Clint's grip and fell to her death at the bottom of the cliff, allowing Clint to get the Soul Stone.
After returning to the present, a devastated Clint reports her death to the other Avengers, the only family Natalia Romanoff ever had. Though the others want to use the Infinity Stones to resurrect Romanoff, Clint knows that she can't be brought back. After Thanos' final defeat and the restoration of everyone he disintegrated, Bruce Banner, the one to use the Stones to restore everyone, tells Steve that he tried as hard as he could to bring Romanoff back too, but he couldn't. At Tony Stark's funeral, Clint and Wanda Maximoff share their grief with each other over their respective losses of Romanoff and Vision
Black Widow present[]
To be added
Character traits[]
Out of all the Avengers, Natasha appears to be the one with the smallest ego. She was usually very calm and collected, as evident in Iron Man 2. She was able to keep her emotions in check. As described by Tony Stark, she was something of a mystery. Before her time at S.H.I.E.L.D., she was regarded as extremely versatile, mysterious and ferociously dangerous, to such an extent that they sent the likes of Clint Barton to deal with her. She was somewhat aware of how dangerous she was and understands what name she made for herself before Barton confronted her in Budapest.
Natasha was certainly extremely fearless, as well as stoic, efficient, cunning, intelligent and unpredictable. She did not normally show any fear whatsoever in the face of any danger, even if it was an immortal being from another dimension. She appears to adopt multiple personalities to keep her true colours invisible, making her incredibly hard to read.
In The Avengers, Natasha could get emotional, being wary and perhaps afraid of Bruce Banner and what he is capable of doing. When Bruce transformed into Hulk, she showed fear for the first time. Luckily, Thor Odinson intervened in time to prevent Hulk from attacking her. Natasha quickly put her fear aside to stop a mind-controlled Clint Barton, who she seems to deeply care about.
Natasha's fear appears a second time when she battles Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier - she tries to fight the assassin, but when she was beaten, she tries to retreat (she actually runs from a fight) and when Bucky critically shoots her, there is a visible look of terror on her face that has never been seen before, shows that her previous encounter with Bucky - and the injuries she sustained as a result - have marred her somewhat. In spite of this, when she recovered, she returned to the mission without hesitation.
Loki Laufeyson suspected that Natasha harbored a romantic interest in Clint, which she dismissed. The two of them appear to have a close friendship, as she helped him realize that his actions under Loki's control were not his fault. Most importantly, she is haunted by her past and tries to make amends with that past, one day at a time, or as she puts it, she has "red in her ledger" and would like to wipe it out. Her personality becomes increasingly more detailed with every film she appears in. Her past is hinted at in very minute portions, and it is extremely hard to tell if anything she says is genuine.
Natasha, because she did not tell much about herself and does not react emotionally to narrowly anything, was also extremely difficult to trust because her loyalty was always ambiguous to an extreme. She was very pragmatic, seen when she calmly explains to a press conference, after the events involving Bucky, that she and her friends will not be incarcerated by the authorities because, chaotic and unpredictable or not, the Avengers will always be needed. Also, she is extremely goal-oriented, sacrificing her opinion for her efficiency when it came to completing a mission, making an effort not to make things too personal if she can avoid it and preferring to observe, calculate and deal with the facts of the mission, so that she doesn't become dissuaded by her own opinion.
Natasha's relationship with the other Avengers varies with each individual. She is seen in Iron Man 2 to be Nick Fury's second-in-command and the individual, who reports back to him on Tony and she was visibly shocked when he apparently dies. With Tony, she acts in a very aloof and stoic manner, immune and indifferent to his (constant) attempts at flirting with her. She even described him to display "textbook narcissism", however, she might have warmed up to him a bit the more as she worked with him. Natasha and Thor do not explicitly get time together, so their relationship is uncertain.
With Bruce, she acts with incredible caution because she is actually afraid of him, acting as if she is on a knife's edge - his transformation into the Hulk is the first time she shows fear, but she becomes more easygoing with him later on. She even develops stronger feelings for him and is the only one who is able to properly tame his Hulk form. She comes close to developing romantic feelings for him.
Natasha's relationship with Clint was hinted at but never truly expressed. They first met when Clint was sent to hunt her down, but instead he spared her and they became friends, to the point of developed into a lasting partnership. Natasha first met Steve Rogers on the Helicarrier when he was recruited to S.H.I.E.L.D. and she appeared to respect his authority. They also worked fiercely together against the Chitauri.
Natasha and Steve's relationship developed later on when they were outlawed by their own bosses and hunted by Bucky and Natasha appeared to see him as a genuine friend. However, he found it painfully hard to trust her because he didn't know where her loyalty lay and she always seemed to be working for a second party whilst deceiving him. She also flirted with him subtly throughout this particular adventure and the two made an incredible team. After the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D., she learned that he was planning on going after Bucky, and warned him to be careful as he might not like what he found and even kissed him, showing that she was developing less aloofness towards at least one Avenger.
Despite Natasha's serious demeanor, she had a sarcastic sense of humor, for example, when she discovered that her friend, Clint's youngest child is a boy, who he and his wife, Laura Barton were originally going to name after her, prior to them discovering that there youngest child is a boy, with Natasha jokingly referring to the unborn Nathaniel Barton as a "traitor", she is also very selfless, as she make sure that no innocent individuals weren't shot by Bucky when he was chasing her.
In Captain America: Civil War, Natasha appeared to support the Sokovia Accords, despite her friendship and loyalty to Steve. However, near the climax of the Avengers Civil War, she reveals that she was truly on Steve's side, as successfully holding off T'Challa for Steve and Bucky so that they can deal with Helmut Zemo, proving that she puts her morals and honor first, and logic second, she also did not regret helping her friend and team leader, despite the fact that it resulted in her becoming a fugitive, as Natasha believed that Bucky should not be judged for his past actions, since her past is similar to his.
Due to Natasha's negative past as a spy, she considered the Avengers her family, as she was desperate to keep them together when the Sokovia Accords were due to be signed, but ultimately failed, due to Tony's arrogance and massive ego, unlike the rest of the rogue Avengers, Natasha, along with Steve and Sam, still had some compassion left for Tony and James Rhodes, expressing concern after Rhodey was left paralyzed and even trying to reason with Tony, but to no avail. She was left frustrated and hurt by Tony's anger towards her, but not before telling him off and coldly putting him in his place.
In Avengers: Infinity War, Natasha was more hardened, due to being a hunted criminal, she was strict with Wanda Maximoff and her relationship with Vision, and displayed more ruthlessness, even coldly stated that, she will have no qualms killing Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive, she was also more awkward with Bruce, due to the fact that how he left her. However, her compassion still remains in her, as she refuses to allow Vision to sacrifice himself and she was quick to reconcile with Rhodey.
In Avengers: Endgame, Natasha was among the ones most determined to undo what Thanos had done, pointing out that she and the Avengers owed it to every victim of the Decimation to try no matter how little the chance may be. Although to a lesser extent than Steve, the trillions of casualties caused by their failure weighed heavily on Natasha, with her stating none of the nightmares she had suffered ever resembled the Decimation, and she was left near tears upon the realization Thanos's destruction of the Infinity Stones had completely eliminated any chances of reversal.
Over the years, Natasha, burdened by guilt and remorse, as well as shame over the fact that she had failed to protect the entire human race, and sadness and grief over the scattering of the Avengers, the only family that she ever had, finally broke from her hardened demeanor and adopted a much softer one in it's stead as she leads the Avengers.
Incapable of moving on, Natasha was the only member of the Avengers, who remains on the active side, leading the new and remaining old members of the Avengers, displaying outright gentleness when dealing with the others. She was also more open and vulnerable to her emotions of guilt and sadness, crying whenever hearing to Clint now being an assassin and not bothering to stop herself from nearly crying when she discusses on how impossible it seemed, despite all her efforts to become better with Steve.
After realizing that time-travel with the Quantum Realm could be their only way to undo the Decimation, Natasha was quick to support the idea. She shows that any feelings of resentment that she had towards Tony had completely disappeared, as she encouraged him to help them and appeared sympathetic to his refusal. Her dedication to finally finding peace over her failure and bringing back the victims led to her willingly giving her life, so that Clint can get the Soul Stone and undo the damage.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Peak of Human Physical Condition: Natasha was in top physical condition for a woman of her age. She was able to overpower, outpace and outmaneuver Hawkeye on several occasions.
- Master Acrobat: Through her training from both the Red Room and S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha was highly skilled in several different types of acrobatics and gymnastics.
- High-Level Intellect: Natasha was a highly intelligent individual, her intellect was on par with Clint Barton. She possessed the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (e.g., threat assessment) and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations.
- Expert Tactician: Natasha was a highly skilled tactician, she was able to formulate plans to achieve her goals efficiently.
- Master of Deception: Natasha was highly skilled in the art of deception. During the Avengers Civil War, she was truly on Steve Rogers' side, having successfully hid her true intentions from everyone, including Steve himself.
- Master Seductress: Natasha was an expert in the field of seduction. Natasha was known to bend men to her will and sometimes even get them to do her bidding for her by using her sex appeal.
- Master Interrogator: Natasha was able to trick Loki Laufeyson into telling her about his plan to use Hulk against the Helicarrier. She used reverse interrogation on Georgi Luchkov, obtaining information through the questions he asked her while he attempted to interrogate her.
- Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Through her training from both the Red Room and S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha was a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist. Her combat style was comprised of karate, judo, aikido, savate, boxing, lucha-libre style wrestling and kung fu. She was able to take down nearly a dozen Hammer security guards with ease and without being hit at all. In The Avengers, Natasha was able to fight three men while tied to a chair and broke it on one of them to free herself. She was also able to defeat hordes of Chitauri soldiers. Natasha was able to easily taken down Georges Batroc's armed pirates, several members of Strike and dozens of Ultron Sentries. However, despite Natasha's combat prowess, her combat skills were proven to be ultimately inferior to Captain America and Winter Soldier's. During the Battle of Wakanda, Natasha was capable of overpowering several Outriders and managed to compete with Proxima Midnight alongside Okoye, even managing to disarm her.
- Master Assassin: Through her training from the Red Room, Natasha was highly skilled in the art of assassination and was considered to be one of the most deadliest assassins on the entire planet.
- Expert Markswoman: Through her training from both the Red Room and with S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha was a highly skilled markswoman. She was skilled in sharpshooting.
- Master Knife-Fighter/Knife Thrower: Through her training from both the Red Room and with S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha was highly skilled with knives in combat.
- Master Stick-Fighter: Through her training from both the Red Room and with S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha was a highly skilled stick-fighter. During the Battle of Wakanda, she was able to head-on against Proxima Midnight.
- Master Spear Fighter: Natasha was a highly skilled spear fighter. She was skilled enough to use Proxima Midnight's spear to almost kill Corvus Glaive.
- Expert Computer Hacker: Natasha was a highly skilled computer hacker. She could hack into most other computer systems without tripping any firewalls or security. She used this talent to help Rhodes regain control of the War Machine armor and enabled him to help Tony fought the rest of the attacking Hammer drones.
- Master of Stealth/Infiltration: Natasha was highly skilled in espionage, stealth, disguise, infiltration and demolitions. Her talents and years of experience enabled her to reach a high rank as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D..
- Multilingual: As a native Russian, Natasha spoke the language fluently, in addition to English, French, German, Chinese, Italian, Vietnamese, Latin and several other languages.
Equipment[]
- Black Widow's Bite: Electroshock weapon that can deliver powerful electrical discharges from two bracelets worn by Natasha.
- Black Widow's Batons: Electroshock weapons that can deliver powerful electrical shocks to incapacitate her targets. Natasha used the batons to take down dozens of Ultron Sentries with a combination of her weapons and martial arts mastery and employed these weapons during the Avengers Civil War; although the batons were not charged with electricity at the time.
- Handguns:
- Walther PPK/S (in Iron Man 2)
- Glock 26 (in The Avengers)
- Taser disks:
- Flash-bangs:
- Garrote:
- Daggers:
- Two blasters: (in Avengers: Age of Ultron)
Relationships[]
- S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Nick Fury - Friend, director and commander.
- Maria Hill - Friend and fellow agent; deceased.
- Phil Coulson - Friend and fellow agent; deceased.
- Sharon Carter - Fellow agent.
- Avengers
- Steve Rogers/Captain America - Close friend, partner and team leader.
- Tony Stark/Iron Man - Former employer, friend and teammate; deceased.
- Thor Odinson - Ally and teammate.
- Bruce Banner/Hulk - Ally and teammate.
- Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Teammate and family friend turned enemy turned ally.
- Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver - Enemy turned ally and teammate; deceased.
- Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch - Enemy turned ally and teammate. Enemy during the Sokovia Accords; deceased.
- Vision - Ally and teammate; deceased.
- Sam Wilson/Falcon - Ally, teammate, and friend. Enemy during the Sokovia Accords.
- James Rhodes/War Machine - Teammate and friend.
- T'Challa/Black Panther - Ally.
- Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Ally.
- Scott Lang/Ant-Man - Enemy turned ally.
- Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel - Ally.
- Pepper Potts - Ally and friend.
- Ivan Vanko/Whiplash - Enemy; deceased.
- Justin Hammer - Enemy.
- Thaddeus Ross - Ally turned enemy.
- Loki Laufeyson - Enemy; deceased.
- Chitauri - Enemies.
- HYDRA - Enemies.
- Alexander Pierce - Ally turned enemy; deceased.
- Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier - Enemy turned ally.
- Brock Rumlow/Crossbones - Ally and strike teammate turned enemy; deceased.
- Jack Rollins - Ally and strike teammate turned enemy; deceased.
- Jasper Sitwell - S.H.I.E.L.D. ally turned enemy; deceased.
- Wolfgang von Strucker - Enemy; deceased.
- Ultron - Enemy; deceased.
- Thanos - Enemy; deceased.
- Black Order
- Corvus Glaive - Enemy; deceased.
- Proxima Midnight - Enemy; deceased.
- Cull Obsidian - Enemy; deceased.
- Red Skull - Guide.
Appearances/Actresses[]
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (15 films)
- Iron Man 2 (First appearance) - Scarlett Johansson
- The Avengers - Scarlett Johansson
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Scarlett Johansson
- Avengers: Age of Ultron - Scarlett Johansson
- Ant-Man (Referenced only)
- Captain America: Civil War - Scarlett Johansson
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (Video only)
- Thor: Ragnarok (Video only)
- Avengers: Infinity War - Scarlett Johansson
- Captain Marvel - Scarlett Johansson
- Avengers: Endgame - Scarlett Johansson
- Spider-Man: Far From Home (Photo only)
- Black Widow - Scarlett Johansson
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Mentioned only)
- Deadpool & Wolverine - Scarlett Johansson (Recycled footage)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (2 TV films)
- Werewolf by Night (Art)
- The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (Mentioned only)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (7 TV series)
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Season 1
- "Pilot" (Mentioned only)
- "The Hub" (Mentioned only)
- "Providence" (Mentioned only)
- "The Only Light in the Darkness" (Mentioned only)
- "Nothing Personal" (Mentioned only)
- Season 4
- "Hot Potato Soup" (Mentioned only)
- Season 1
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
- "New World Order" (Mentioned only)
- Loki - Scarlett Johansson
- Season 1
- "Glorious Purpose" - Scarlett Johansson (Recycled footage)
- "For All Time. Always." - Scarlett Johansson (Recycled audio)
- Season 1
- Hawkeye
- "Never Meet Your Heroes" (Mentioned only)
- "Hide and Seek" (Mentioned only)
- "Echoes" (Mentioned only)
- "Partners, Am I Right?" (Mentioned only)
- "Ronin" (Mentioned only)
- "So This Is Christmas?" (Mentioned only)
- Ms. Marvel
- "Generation Why" (Depiction and mentioned)
- "Crushed" (Depiction)
- She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
- "Ribbit and Rip It" (Photo only)
- "Whose Show is This?" (Photo only)
- Secret Invasion
- "Harvest" (Mentioned only)
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Marvel Cinematic Universe (20 comics)
- Iron Man: I Am Iron Man! (Mentioned only)
- Iron Man 2: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Black Widow Strikes
- Fury's Big Week
- The Avengers: The Avengers Initiative
- Iron Man 2 Adaptation
- Iron Man 3 Prelude
- Thor: The Dark World Prelude
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier Infinite Comic
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier Prelude
- Captain America: Homecoming
- Avengers: Age of Ultron Prelude - This Scepter'd Isle
- Avengers: Operation HYDRA
- Captain America: Civil War Prelude
- Captain America: Road to War
- Spider-Man: Homecoming Prelude
- Avengers: Infinity War Prelude
- Captain Marvel Prelude
- Avengers: Endgame Prelude
- Black Widow Prelude
Behind the scenes[]
- Lionsgate announced that a Black Widow motion picture featuring the Natasha Romanova version, was in the script stage by X-Men and X2: X-Men United writer David Hayter, but Lionsgate subsequently and stupidly dropped the project.
- Before Scarlett Johansson was cast, Emily Blunt was set to star as Black Widow, but had to pull out due scheduling conflicts with her movie Gulliver's Travels. Jessica Biel, Gemma Arterton, Natalie Portman, Jessica Alba, Elena Satine and Angelina Jolie were also considered.
- Whedon confirmed that Johansson's Romanoff would be the only female member of the Avengers, but not the only female character in the film.
- Regarding the character's abilities to measure up to her teammates Johansson recounted, "The other day we were doing this big reveal shot of all the Avengers. Thor has got his hammer, Cap’s got his shield, Hawkeye has his bow and arrow, and Hulk is huge. Then it pans over to me and i've got guns. Iron Man's like, hovering above all of us, ready to go. I was like, "Joss, um, do i look okay holding these guns?" and he responded she's a total badass. She's a killing and porning machine.
- Scarlett Johansson dyed her hair red before she even got the part of Black Widow because she wanted the role so badly. To prepare for her role, Scarlett Johansson trained six weeks before the movie started principal photography and the entire six months of shooting the movie. Scarlett Johansson was influenced in her performance by the femme fatales Nina Ivanovna Yakushova of Ninotchka and Anya Amasova of The Spy Who Loved Me.
- During filming for Avengers: Age of Ultron, three stuntwomen were used while Johansson was pregnant.
- Catherine Campion voiced an alternate version of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in the video game Iron Man 2. The character was also mentioned in the first game. These games are not considered canon to Earth-199999.
Trivia[]
- In Iron Man 2, Natasha wears an outfit reminiscent of both her black comic book catsuit, and a dark blue S.H.I.E.L.D uniform.
- In the comics, the character is known as Natalia Romanova or the Black Widow and was originally a Soviet spy that first appeared in the Iron Man comics (While still being part of Tales of Suspense). The comic character has been romantically involved with Bucky Barnes, Daredevil, Hawkeye, Iron Man in the Ultimate universe, and Captain America in Ultimate Avengers.
- Romanoff's cover name Rushman is inspired by "Nancy Rushman", a S.H.I.E.L.D. cover identity she has used in the comics.
- Scarlett Johansson is never referred to as "Black Widow" in Iron Man 2.
- Natasha's SHIELD file states she was born in the mid 1980's, while in the comics she was born in the late 1920's; her aging process slowed by the Red Room variant of the Super Soldier serum. Her origin as the Red Room prodigy as Natalia Romanova, where she met her lover Winter Soldier, an element not explored in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
- An allusion to her age appears in a Deleted Scene for The Avengers. After she tells Bruce Banner that S.H.I.E.L.D. has all the toys, he jokingly inquires as to whether or not they have a Commodore 64. After she replies that she isn't sure, Banner unwittingly remarks that she must be very young.
- Also according to her file, she shares the same birth date as her actress; November 22, 1984
- Though Arnim Zola cites her birth year as 1984, it is possible that this was falsified information. This is supported by the fact Steve claims she made up a portion of her life story.
- Natasha's screen time in The Avengers is 33:35.
- Natasha's screen time in Avengers: Age of Ultron is 33:07.
- Natasha's screen time in Captain America: Civil War is 11:45.
- Director Peyton Reed confirmed that the Avenger that Falcon was talking to over headset was Black Widow.
Gallery[]
See Also[]