Some may consider the bow and arrow-wielding Hawkeye and the specially-trained Black Widow to be weak links in the Avengers team, and, compared to the technologically-superior Iron Man, the God of Thunder, a monstrous rage-beast and a super-soldier, one can see their point.

Actors Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson, however, would like to clear up some misconceptions about their utterly human characters.

Thanks to the Marvel website for the interview!

S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) weren’t born with any super powers–but that doesn’t mean they’re the weak link in “Marvel’s The Avengers.”

“We are humans with high skill sets,” Renner said. “[Hawkeye and Black Widow] fight well together…and they complement each other.”

Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson star as Hawkeye and Black Widow in “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Added Johansson, “Both of us fight hand-to-hand…but we’re fighting in a different way than everybody else. We do a lot of fighting on the ground.”

Johansson made her debut as Black Widow in “Iron Man 2,” where we learned of her affiliation with S.H.I.E.L.D. and that she wouldn’t hesitate to lay the smack down on bad guys. Renner made a brief cameo as the bow-and-arrow wielding Hawkeye in “Thor.”

For both Renner and Johansson, getting into character never posed a problem. The issue was getting comfortable in their characters’ clothing.

“It was like 800 degrees in my costume…and everybody looked incredibly uncomfortable until the cameras were rolling,” she said. “And then ‘Cut!’ and we were all like, ‘Ugh, this thing! Get it off me, it’s awful!”

Added Renner, “I think the humility award goes to [Mark] Ruffalo. [He was] in a thong or wearing something unflattering, and he’s supposed to be the [Incredible Hulk].”

What do you think? Hawkeye and Black Widow have always been able to hold their own in the comics (while managing to be sufficiently badass), so we never thought of their lack of abilities as a problem. Do you think that the S.H.I.E.L.D. assassin/spy duo will compare to the other Avengers?