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| “ | I find that it's easier to keep your true self buried under several layers of untrue selves, to protect yourself. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow |
| “ | Even if there's a small chance, we owe this to everyone whose not in this room to try. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow to the group in Avengers: Endgame. |
| “ | It's okay. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow before she sacrifices herself to let Hawkeye get the Soul Stone. |
Natalia Alianovna "Natasha Romanoff" Romanova (In Russian: Наталья Альяновна "Наташа Романоф" Романова) (November 22, 1984-October 16, 2023), also known as Black Widow, is a major character in the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being one of the main protagonists of the Avengers tetralogy. She is also a major character of Iron Man 2 and Captain America: Civil War, the deuteragonist of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and a minor character in Thor: Ragnarok and Captain Marvel. She will return as the titular main protagonist the upcoming Black Widow.
Natasha was one of the best spies and assassins in the world. Originally an agent of the Soviet agency for foreign intelligence, the KGB; she later became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., the international counter-intelligence agency with the help of Hawkeye. Having extensive mastery in the martial arts and armed with her Widow's Bite, Batons, and firearms, Black Widow was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most talented agents and Nick Fury's top spy. When Loki Laufeyson declared war on Earth, Black Widow joined the Avengers and helped to defend New York City.
After the Avengers defeated Loki, she continued her work with S.H.I.E.L.D., this time working with fellow agent Captain America. Following the HYDRA Uprising, which resulted in all of her morally dubious history being revealed to the world, she dropped off the grid to begin rebuilding her cover. She later rejoined the Avengers, working to bring down various HYDRA cells across the world and the rogue artificial intelligence Ultron. Unlike most members of the original Avengers, Black Widow remained a member of the second incarnation of the team after the Ultron Offensive.
As the governments of the world demanded the Avengers to sign the Sokovia Accords, she agreed to their terms. She later joined Iron Man in a fight against Captain America because of his disagreements with the Accords and his criminal activities with the Winter Soldier. As the two Avengers' factions fought against each other, she betrayed Iron Man's team in order to assist Captain America to find the instigator of the teammates' fight. As a result, Black Widow had to escape once again from the government for aiding her old friend.
Black Widow would return to aid Vision and Scarlet Witch from the Black Order, and rejoin the Avengers to attempt to stop Thanos. Despite failing to stop the decimation, Black Widow would return to the New Avengers Facility with the survivors to find a way to undo the finger snap. After gaining Nick Fury's pager, she and the team would meet his old friend, Carol Danvers.
After the Infinity War and Thanos's victory, Black Widow with her remaining allies confronted Thanos, only to discover that Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones to prevent his work being undone. Five years later, Black Widow continues to work with the remaining Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, despite being emotionally broken due to the deaths of her allies. However, Scott Lang (who survived the snap by being trapped in the Quantum Realm) proposed the idea of using the Quantum Realm to travel back in time, Black Widow and her allies worked to collect the Infinity Stones and undo the snap. Black Widow and Hawkeye traveled to Vormir in the year of 2014 to get the Soul Stone, only to realize that a sacrifice had to be made in order to receive the stone. After a struggle, Black Widow sacrificed herself so Hawkeye can get the Soul Stone. In the end, Black Widow's sacrifice was not in vain as the Avengers managed to undo the finger snap, bringing back those died, and defeat Thanos once and for all.
She was portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, who also portrayed Lucy in the titular film, Major Mira Killian/Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell, Rosie Betzler in Jojo Rabbit, and voiced Princess Mindy in The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie and Ash in Sing.
Contents
Biography
Early life
| “ | In the Red Room, where I was trained, where I was raised, um, they have a graduation ceremony. They sterilize you. It's efficient. One less thing to worry about. The one thing that might matter more than a mission. Makes everything easier, even killing. | „ |
| ~ Romanoff to Bruce Banner. |
Natalia Romanoff was born in 1984 in Stalingrad, Russia to Ivan Romanoff, and unnamed mother. She was recruited into the KGB into the Red Room, where many young women were trained to be Russia's top spies. Natalia excelled in training and became known as the world's greatest assassin and spy, gaining her the title Black Widow. Upon graduation, she was sterilized so that she could avoid any distractions on a mission, something she regrets later in her life.
She would become notorious and be on the radar for S.H.I.E.L.D., prompting Nick Fury to send Clint Barton to eliminate her in 1998. Barton disobeyed the order, seeing her skill, and she would become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., defecting from Russia. The two would become close friends, and be teamed with STRIKE Team: Delta, and know and become an honorary of his family. In 2009, Black Widow was attacked by an unknown assassin (later revealed to be the Winter Soldier), who killed an engineer she was tasked to protect. She attempted to track him down, but gave up as he was hard person to find on the radar.
Iron Man 2 (2010)
| “ | I'm a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow once we knew you were - oh, I was tasked to you by Director Fury. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow to Iron Man, revealing that she is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. |
Romanoff was tasked by Nick Fury to watch over Tony Stark by being his new assistant at Stark Industries, and see if he can become a member of the Avengers. Taking the name Natalie Rushman, she successfully became Stark's assistant by making her co-worker Samantha Carlisle sick. She impressed Stark, Pepper Potts, and Happy Hogan, whom she defeated in the boxing ring. Natalie attended Stark's visit to Monaco, where he was attacked by Ivan Vanko (Whiplash), whom was donning a armor suit of his own.
On Stark's birthday, she helped him start his party with him thinking it was his last since his arc reactor was poisoning him. Stark's best friend James Rhodes decided to stop the former's behavior by donning the Iron Man Mark II, and duel him in a fight that destroyed half of the mansion. Romanoff was confronted by Potts, but left the mansion and contacted Fury and told him of the situation. She then met with Fury and Stark at Randy's Donuts, revealing herself to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and provided the hero a temporary antidote for his poisoning. Though Stark fired her, she told him it wasn't up to him, and went back to his mansion with Fury and Phil Coulson. She remained as his assistant, and went to the expo with Potts where Ivan Vanko took control over Justin Hammer's drones, and decided to stop him. Having Hogan drive to Hammer HQ, she defeated all of Hammer's men, but realized that Vanko wasn't there. Despite his escape, Widow was able to gain control over Rhodes' War Machine armor, and left with Hammer Industries' data before the building was destroyed.
The Avengers (2012)
Romanoff being interrogated.
While on assignment, Natasha was knocked out and tied to a chair by Georgi Luchkov and appeared to be 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 of Calcutta. Natasha approaches Bruce and tells him that he needs to help them in locating the Tesseract, a dangerous object that had fallen into the wrong hands by Loki. Bruce asks her, "What if I say no?". She responds, 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". Though the thought of Banner's immensely powerful alter ego terrified her, Romanoff carries out the assignment with aplomb and soon had Banner on board.
She later travels to Stuttgart, Germany along with Iron Man and Captain America to apprehend Loki, who, with the aid of a mind-controlled Barton, is stealing iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract. The mission was successful but took the combined skills of Steve Rogers, Tony Stark in his Iron Man armor, and herself at the gun controls of Quinjet to subdue him. On the return trip they also encountered Loki's brother Thor who had designs on Loki's capture of his own.
Black Widow and Loki
Once Loki is captured and taken into custody, Natasha talks to him in his holding cell and he taunts her claiming that he will make Clint kill her. His taunt was after she revealed to Loki that she and Clint had a history with each other. He lets slip that the "monster" is already on board of the Helicarrier and she works out 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 for it, 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, finding him and 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.
Black Widow at the Battle of New York.
Natasha, Clint, and Steve seek Loki in Manhattan, who releases his army, so the Avengers are forced to assemble and battle the onslaught of alien invaders. To serve as Private First-Class of the team, she fights alongside Steve and Clint. When the others arrive she takes one of the Chitauri's aircrafts and heads to the top of Stark Tower where the portal is open. She talks to Erik Selvig and uses Loki's staff to close the portal. The team regroup and send Loki back to Asgard with Thor and then they go their separate ways, though Natasha and Barton return to S.H.I.E.L.D.. Sometime later, Natasha and the rest of the Avengers go to eat silently in a shawarma restaurant.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. the Black Widow, is one of the world’s greatest spies and quite possibly the world’s most skilled assassin. After the events in New York with the Avengers, where her specialized weapons and vast repertoire of martial arts skills help the team defeat the invaders, the Black Widow returns to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters to take on new assignments, only to find herself joining forces with Captain America to expose an ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off assailants sent to silence them at every turn.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
| “ | When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow to Iron Man. |
Black Widow with the Avengers, fighting HYDRA.
Black Widow along with Iron man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor and Hawkeye siege H.Y.D.R.A. HQ. During the attack Scarlet Witch attacked her mind and brought back memories her dark childhood to disable her. After the arrest of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner started to develop a relationship. Tony Stark uses data confiscated from H.Y.D.R.A. to create Ultron but the artificial intelligence goes rogue and fights the Avengers.
Natasha Romanoff assists rest of the Avengers in 3 attacks on Ultron. The second battle in Seoul, she was captured by Ultron to Sokovia, where she was rescued by Banner. During the battle on Sokovia, she protects civilians from Ultron drones. After Banner leaves and the defeat of Ultron, Black Widow stayed with Rogers to recruit the New Avengers.
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
| “ | You know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this? | „ |
| ~ Black to Captain America on fighting against the Sokovia Accords. |
Black Widow before the clash with Team Stark.
Natasha Romanoff along with Captain America, Falcon and Scarlet Witch search for Crossbones in Lagos to arrest him. However this lead to a destruction of a big building. Natasha decided that after this event the Avengers need to be supervised to minimize future damages. She signs Superhero Registration Act and fruitlessly tries to encourage Steve Rogers to do the same.
After revelation that the Winter Soldier has returned and is responsible for a bomb explosion in United Nation embassy in Vienna, Natasha warns Steve from the consequences of getting involved in the arrest of Bucky.
Natasha assists Iron Man's team in arrest of Captain America, Winter Soldier and their team. She decides to support Steve and Bucky in their escape and paralyzes Black Panther. She tells Tony Stark that like he Steve won't stop and won't give up. She doesn't take part in capturing Helmut Zemo and she runs away to avoid being arrested.
Black Widow (2020)
To be added
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
| “ | We don't want to kill you. But we will. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow to Corvus Gliave and Proxima Midnight. |
Romanoff returns in the film, as she helps Rogers and Wilson in rescuing Scarlet Witch and Vision from Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive of the Black Order. Returning back to Avengers HQ, Romanoff soon learned that the Black Order's leader and adoptive father Thanos was the one who sent Loki to invade New York and provided the Mind Stone inside Loki's scepter that brought Ultron to life in the first place. She also learns that Thanos intends to collect all six Infinity Stones to wipe out half of the universe's populace and that Vision has possession of the Mind Stone ever since Ultron was destroyed. She tagged along with Rogers' plan to head over to Wakanda, where they can use its advanced technology to remove and destroy the Stone without killing Vision.
After Thanos collected five of the Infinity Stones, he assembled the Black Order and their army of Outriders to attack Wakanda. Romanoff helps the other Avengers and the Wakandan warriors in fighting off Thanos' forces; even when Thor arrives with two Guardians of the Galaxy (Rocket Racoon and Groot) to help out finish off the remaining Outriders with a new powerful weapon called Stormbreaker.
When Thanos arrives to collect the Mind Stone, Romannoff tries to help the other Avengers and Guardians stop him, but he defeats them, though this buys enough time for Scarlet Witch to remove the Mind Stone and destroy it. Unfortunately, Thanos foiled this by using the Time Stone to reverse the event, allowing himself to take the Mind Stone while killing Vision. Even when Thor managed to use Stormbreaker to painfully stab Thanos in the chest, Thanos proceeded to use the six Infinity Stones to wipe out half of the universe's populace before escaping away, taunting Thor that he should've aimed for the head instead. Though Romanoff survived Thanos' rampage, she is horrified to see that several Avengers and Guardians have perished away to their deaths. She is last seen with the other survivors moping over their failure while a triumphant Thanos oversees a sunrise from another planet.
Captain Marvel (2019)
| “ | Fury did. You tell me the second you get a signal. I wanna know who's on the other end of that thing. | „ |
| ~ Romanoff to Rogers and Banner. |
After their defeat, Black Widow, Captain America, War Machine, and Hulk returned to the New Avengers Facility and learned that Fury's Transmitter Page had been set. While learning of the decimation, Rhodes tells the group that the pager had stop responding, with Rogers telling him to reboot it. Wanting to know who it was from, Captain Marvel responded and came face to face with the Avengers; wanting to know where Fury is.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
| “ | Thanos did what exactly he said he was gonna do. He wiped out 50% of all living creatures. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow on the decimation. |
Black Widow is 1st seen after Captain Marvel rescues Iron Man from outer space and returns him to Earth. Black Widow is among the Avengers who go to Thanos to try to undo the snap which killed half of life in the Universe. However, the plan fails as Thanos destroyed the stones, meaning the snap can't be undone. Black Widow is seen 5 years later still sending some of the heroes left from the snap to check on and help out the people who remained. After a meeting, War Machine informs Natasha of the damage Hawkeye is causing, which makes Natasha hold back tears. Natasha goes out to find Hawkeye and finds him killing some Yazuka. Natasha convinces Hawkeye to rejoin the Avengers and join the time heist because if they succeed Clint's family will come back. Natasha and Clint go to 2014 Vormir so they can get the soul stone. They are greeted by Red Skull, who informs them that one of them needs to sacrifice themselves to get the stone. Clint tries to take his life, but Natasha catches on to him and sacrifices herself so Clint can see his family again. Black Widow died from the fall, and couldn't be brought back even by the Infinity Gauntlet. However, her legacy among the Avengers still lives on as a hero.
Personality
| “ | I'm always picking up after you boys. | „ |
| ~ Black Widow in Seoul. |
The entirety of Natasha's character is hard to distinguish based on how she lies and tricks people for a living. She is capable of convincingly portraying friendly and flirtatious, timid, vulnerable and scared. For the most part, she is a level-headed, strong-willed and independent woman. Natasha normally maintains a controlled, almost emotionless persona to keep whatever she is thinking a secret unless she is around people she absolutely trusts. Although she is more than willing to rush into deadly battle and other unnerving missions for S.H.I.E.L.D., she is not completely fearless, as she was visibly frightened of Hulk. However, she is no longer afraid of him due to falling in love with Bruce Banner.
Though a very serious agent, Natasha is by no means stuffy and has a sarcastic sense of humor, which mostly surfaces when she is with Captain America or Hawkeye, both of whom she is comfortable around. Natasha is very smart and loyal which is displayed when she made good on the debts seu owned Clint and Steve (saving Clint from Loki's mind control and trying to protect Steve during a highway assault). While tough and at times ruthless, she is still a good person and can be quite heroic in her own right. These qualities are usually brought out by her other Avengers, mainly during her missions with Steve. And no matter how injured she is in battle, Natasha will go out her way to make sure bystanders are out of harm's way (keeping several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents away when Bruce was transforming into Hulk, helping Clint evacuate civilians when the Chitauri attacked Manhattan, and risking her life to make sure innocent people weren't shot by Winter Soldier when he was chasing her). Her close loyalty to both Steve and Clint was shown in Captain America: Civil War, as she was willing to aid their faction despite being forced to go on the run from the United Nations afterwards. As a result of her childhood, she considered the Avengers her family, being desperate to keep them together when the Sokovia Accords were due to be signed, and was affected when Tony denounced her as a friend and made it clear he would not help her in the future.
Natasha is also very close with Clint Barton's family, especially with his and Laura Barton's only daughter, Lila, being the only member of the Avengers who knew of their existence. Natasha is genuinely affectionate with the child, hugging her the moment they reunite and sweetly commended the little girl on the drawing she made. They originally named their youngest child after Natasha prior to discovering that it was in fact a boy, thus making him Nathaniel instead, with Natasha humorously referring to the unborn child as a "traitor".
Natasha was sterilized as a rite-of-passage for her graduation from the training she underwent in the Red Room. This event deeply affected her, as she regretfully told Bruce of the so-called advantages of the procedure.
Despite her lifestyle of espionage and operating within the shadows, Natasha's adaptability influenced her opinions on the Sokovia Accords. Realizing the difference between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers with many of their activities seen in the light of day amongst the public opinions by signing and also that she didn't want conflict with her close friends and teammates like Clint and Steve. This care for Captain America eventually caused Natasha to betray Tony's team and assist their escape so they could clear Bucky name, eventually becoming a fugitive because of this.
Physical Appearance
Black Widow has fair skin and has blue eyes and shoulder-length red hair.
In Iron Man 2 She wore a black stealth costume with black knee boots and holster and has a utility belt.
In Civil War (Beginning) She Wore Light Beige Leather Jacket and Fryer Tall lace Boots along with blue thigh jeans.
In Winter Soldier She Wears a Catsuit with a utility belt and black leggings with black pants with a holster and v-shaped tall knee black boots, In The Highway Fight She Wears a Dark Brown leather Jacket similar to one she wears in Civil War Opening Black Long Pants and Light shaded Brown boots.
In Infinity War, she now has straight blonde hair.
Background
Natasha Romanoff is a Level 7 S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, working there since Hawkeye (Agent Clint Barton) was sent to kill her but decided to bring her in to work for them instead. She works undercover as a legal aid at Stark Industries in Iron Man 2, after being sent there to collect intel on Tony Stark. In the 2012 Marvel movie The Avengers, she works together with Bruce Banner (the Hulk), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Thor, and Clint Barton (Hawkeye) to defeat Loki and his army.
Abilities
- Peak Human Condition: Natasha is at the peak level of natural physical limits of a woman of her advanced training. This has been building up through years and years of constant & rigorous training & special diets. Despite her lack of physical strength in most cases, her speed and agility are her biggest advantages against most foes. She has the endurance to survive being shot in the abdomen by the Winter Soldier's special weaponry.
- Master Martial Artist: Natasha is an expert in the field of martial arts. She is proficient in karate, judo, aikido, savate, boxing and multiple styles of kung fu.
- Master Acrobat: She is an Olympic class athlete, gymnast, acrobat and aerialist capable of numerous complex maneuvers and feats.
- Master Marksman: Natasha is a very accurate marksman skilled in sharpshooting and knife throwing.
- Multilingual: She is fluent in Russian, English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, and various other languages.
- Gifted Intellect: According to Marvel, Natasha's intellect is at level 3, putting her on par with Steve Rogers. She possesses the ability to quickly process multiple information streams (e.g., threat assessment) and rapidly respond to changing tactical situations.
- Graceful Dancer: Natasha is a profound ballet dancer.
- Master Tactician: She is a very effective strategist, tactician, and field commander. She has lead the Avengers and even S.H.I.E.L.D. on one occasion.
- Talented Hacker: Natasha can hack into all computer systems without tripping any firewalls or security with ease.
- Master Seductress: She is an expert in the field of seduction. Natasha has been known to bend many different men to her will and sometimes even get them to do her bidding for her. She sometimes continues deceiving certain men through means of acting if she still has a further use for them.
- Master Spy: Natasha is a dangerous secret agent trained in espionage, stealth, disguise, infiltration, and demolitions. She displays an uncanny affinity for psychological manipulation and can mask her real emotions perfectly. Her talents and years of experience have enabled her to reach a high ranking as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Weakness
- Pregnancy: Though the red rooms brainwashing and vasectomy, its effects on her body have made pregnancy impossible.
- Mortality: As with any human being, she is easily subjected to physical harm & illness. Though her resistance to illness is stronger than normal humans due to her honed physical condition.
Equipment
- Costume Specifications: Synthetic stretch fabric which has been augmented to be highly resistant to damage even small arms fire and high temperatures. Microscopic suction cups on her costume allow her to scale walls and cling to ceilings, just as her namesake. The costume also seems to enhance her physical performance.
- Advanced Tech Suit: Suits worn by the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ant-Man to travel into the Quantum Realm.
- Personal Weaponry: The Black Widow's Gauntlets are wrist cartridges containing various tools of the spy trade: tear-gas pellets, a radio transmitter, and spring-loaded cable.
- Special Weaponry: Various automatic weapons and firearms, combat knives and explosives as needed. She also uses a device often referred to as the Widow's Bite that is capable of emitting highly potent electric shocks with a maximum of about 30,000 volts.
- Source of Paraphernalia: Formerly Soviet Union, S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers.
Relationships
Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Clint Barton is one of Romanoff's closes friend, him being the one who decided that she would be a good agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. When talking about him in The Avengers, she states she owes everything to him, and wants to save him from Loki's brainwashing. In addition, she and Fury would be the only ones to know of his family, with the former being a honorary aunt for his children, and being friends with Laura Barton.
Despite the two going against each other during the Clash of the Avengers, Black Widow asked him amidst the fight were they still friends, and him replying it depends on how hard she hits. In Avengers: Endgame, she finds him changed after the decimation, becoming Ronin, and the two attempt to undo Thanos' figersnap with the others.
Bruce Banner/Hulk
Nick Fury
Steve Rogers/Captain America
Tony Stark/Iron Man
Sam Wilson/Falcon
Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier/White Wolf
Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
T'Challa/Black Panther
Okoye
Trivia
- The role was originally offered to Emily Blunt, but she turned it down.
- Romanoff dying her hair blonde is a homage to Yelena Belova, the second Black Widow.
- She is the second superheroine in the MCU to have a solo film, the first was Captain Marvel.
- With Black Panther and Spider-Man, she is the third to get a titular film after their debut.
