Black Widow (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

Template:InfoboxBlack Widow, is the alias of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff. She is a supporting character in both Marvel's 2010 film Iron Man 2 and its 2012 crossover film The Avengers. She is portrayed by Scarlett Johansson. She will return in the upcoming films Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Black Widow is Nick Fury's top spy.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Avengers

Romanoff being interrogated.

While on assignment, Natasha was 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

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.

Background

Personality

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.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Artificially Enhanced Physiology: Natasha has received the Red Room's variant of the Super-Soldier Serum. As a result, her physical and mental abilities had been enhanced slightly beyond human limits.

• Peak Human Strength: Her physical strength is at the peak level of natural physical limits of a woman of her height, weight and build. She is capable of lifting up to 500 lbs.
• Peak Human Speed: Her speed is also enhanced to the peak of human capability. Natasha is as fast as a human can be without being classified as superhuman.
• Peak Human Agility: Natasha's natural agility is heightened to a level greater than that of an Olympic gold medalist. She can coordinate her body with balance, flexibility, and dexterity easily.
• Peak Human Reflexes: Her reaction time is similarly enhanced and functions with superhuman efficiency and capability.
• Peak Human Durability: Natasha's bodily tissues have been augmented to the pinnacle of human development. Though she can be injured in the typical ways other humans can be, she possesses exceptional human strength, endurance, and stamina.
• Peak Human Senses: Her five senses are enhanced and function at the peak of human perfection.
• Peak Human Immune System: While she is susceptible to disease, the Black Widow has been enhanced by biotechnology that makes her body resistant to aging and disease and heals at an above human rate.
• Extended Longevity: The Super Soldier serum variant has also extended her lifespan by dramatically slowing her natural aging process. Although she is almost 70 years old, she has the youthful appearance and vitality of a woman in the physical prime of her life.

Abilities

• 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.
• Expert Acrobat: She is an Olympic class athlete, gymnast, acrobat and aerialist capable of numerous complex maneuvers and feats.
• Expert 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.
• Expert 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 infamously 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.
• Expert 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 Super Soldier serum has kept her in her physical prime, its effects on her body have made pregnancy impossible.

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.
• 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.

Gallery

Black Widow

Black Widow in Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie.