Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) is an original member of The Avengers and a major protagonist in The Marvel Cinematic Universe. She made her debut in Iron Man 2. She is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—sometimes known by her alias, Black Widow. Romanoff is depicted as an expert spy and hand-to-hand combatant, trained in the Red Room from childhood to be a KGB assassin. This brings her under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar, and Clint Barton is sent to kill her but instead spares her life and recruits her into the organization. When Nick Fury activates the Avengers Initiative, she becomes a founding member. Following the fallout related to the Sokovia Accords, Romanoff becomes a fugitive and eventually reunites with her adopted family, including sister Yelena Belova, and they work together to destroy General Dreykov's Black Widow program. After Thanos erases half of all life, Romanoff leads the Avengers for five years until she sacrifices herself, successfully helping the Avengers restore trillions of lives across the universe.
Romanoff was introduced in Iron Man 2 (2010), and became a central MCU character on The Avengers.
Fictional character biography[]
Early life[]
Natasha Romanoff was born on December 3, 1984, in the Soviet Union, and was trained as a KGB spy in a secretive academy called the Red Room which involved training as a ballerina as a cover,[1] as well as the eventual sterilization of the students.[2] She grew up in a false family with Alexei Shostakov and Melina Vostokoff as her 'parents' and Yelena Belova as her younger 'sister'.[3] In 1995, when Shostakov completes his assigned mission to steal intel from S.H.I.E.L.D. in Ohio, the family escape to Cuba where they rendezvous with their boss, General Dreykov, who has Romanoff and Belova put through the Red Room for further training to become assassins. Eventually, Clint Barton is sent to kill Romanoff, but instead chooses to spare her life and recruit her to S.H.I.E.L.D., enabling Romanoff to defect from the USSR and escape her previous life. In Budapest, with Barton's help, Romanoff rigs a bomb in an attempt to kill Dreykov, seemingly killing his daughter Antonia in the process. In 2009, Romanoff was sent on a mission to Odessa to protect a scientist, but was confronted by the Winter Soldier. Romanoff attempted to cover the scientist, but the Winter Soldier killed him by shooting him through Romanoff's stomach.
Undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D.[]
- Main article: Iron Man 2
In 2011, after Tony Stark publicly becomes Iron Man and appoints his personal assistant Pepper Potts as CEO of Stark Industries, he hires Romanoff, who is posing as Stark employee Natalie Rushman on behalf of Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., to replace Potts as his personal assistant. Fury later reveals this to Stark, and Romanoff then helps Stark to thwart the plans of villains Justin Hammer and Ivan Vanko, the latter of whom has remotely taken control of an army of military drones and the armor of Stark's friend James Rhodes. Romanoff successfully defeats Hammer's security forces to return control of the Rhodes' armor, allowing Stark and Rhodes to defeat Vanko and the drones.
Battle of New York[]
- Main article: The Avengers
In 2012, Romanoff is being interrogated by Russian criminals when Agent Phil Coulson contacts her to inform her that Barton has been compromised. Romanoff promptly overcomes the Russians, whom she had only allowed to capture her in order to extract information. After Fury reactivates the "Avengers Initiative", she goes to Kolkata and recruits Bruce Banner to use his expertise to track the gamma signature of the Tesseract. She is introduced to Steve Rogers by Coulson and pilots a Quinjet to Stuttgart where Stark and Rogers have a confrontation with Loki who surrenders. While Loki is held prisoner on a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, Romanoff manipulates him into revealing his plan to cause Banner to become the Hulk. Barton and Loki's other possessed agents attack the Helicarrier and Banner transforms and chases Romanoff until he is stopped by Thor. Romanoff fights Barton and knocks him unconscious, breaking Loki's mind control. Rogers, Stark, Romanoff, Barton, Thor, and Hulk assemble as the Avengers in defense of Loki's next target, New York City. There they fight against the alien race called the Chitauri and ultimately defeat Loki. Afterwards, she and Barton leave together.
References[]
- ↑ Stern, Marlow. "'Avengers: Age of Ultron's' Black Widow Disgrace", May 5, 2015.
- ↑ Hasty, Katie (May 7, 2015). "Why Black Widow's sterilization scene in 'Age of Ultron' is astonishing".
- ↑ James, Caryn (June 29, 2021). "Film review: four stars for 'exciting' Black Widow". BBC Culture.