Wonder what’s going through Black Widow’s mind during Avengers: Age of Ultron and the upcoming Captain America: Civil War? Wonder no longer, cause Scarlett Johansson’s got your back.
Entertainment Weekly is featuring a lot of awesome interviews with the cast of Marvel, leading up to next year’s Captain America: Civil War. Most recently, they sat down with Scarlett Johansson, who plays Natasha Romanoff, aka. Black Widow, aka. one of only two Avengers who does not (yet) have their own movie.
Related: Black Panther’s role in Captain America: Civil War revealed
As Natasha, unfortunately, has only appeared as part of larger stories, it might be hard for us to get to know her as well as we know, say, Steve and Tony.
And getting to know her hasn’t been made easier by the fact that she seems to shed her skin between every movie, partly because that’s what Natasha does, and partly because Marvel’s various directors clearly have different ideas about her personality and motivations.
So let’s allow Scarlett Johansson herself to set a few things straight.
First, let’s talk about the Natasha/Bruce romance that unnerved a lot of fans in Age of Ultron. When Natasha was left at the end of the movie (seemingly) moping about Hulk being M.I.A., Johansson says we shouldn’t interpret that as her feeling abandoned or hurt.
“She understands that Banner did what he had to do,” says Johansson. “Certainly she’s not going to be the person to chastise someone who’s not ready to open up. I don’t think she’s taking it personally.”
Black Widow has far bigger things to worry about, after all. In Captain America: Civil War, this character is able to do something we haven’t really seen her do yet in the MCU: Decide her allegiance for herself.
Related: The Captain America: Civil War trailer: Our breakdown and best bits
“I don’t think she’s ever aspired to become an Avenger,” Johansson reflects, “that’s not really a choice that she made.” But in Civil War, “she’s finally capable of making a choice for herself. Which is kind of a milestone in someone’s life when they’ve not really participated in the decisions that were made for them. She’s finally at a place where she’s going, ‘Okay, I actually kind of know what I want. And I think I kind of deserve it.'”
And when we see her fighting against Captain America in the trailer, that’s still reflecting her personal allegiance to him. EW reveals that she and Tony Stark are actually trying to save Steve, in their own way, because if they can’t stop him, the government will stop playing nice and just take him out.
Finally, Johansson assures us that, for better or worse, “there is little room for romance in Civil War,” at least for Black Widow. “I think there is a lot going on that doesn’t really involve big heart-to-hearts. I mean it’s certainly in there and there’s references to it. But this is not the opportunity for us to explore the Widow’s deep, personal backstory.”
…Which is why we need a Black Widow solo movie, duh.