The Black Widow movie recently dropped its first teaser trailer - and it’s reminded us of exactly why we love Natasha Romanoff. She’s the female to have appeared in the most MCU movies and her brilliant fighting skills - as well as her loveable and flirtatious personality - have seen Scarlet Johansson’s character gain much popularity ever since her first appearance back in Iron Man 2.
We now rank all of her appearances in Marvel’s cinematic blockbusters so far, starting with the worst before getting to the best.
Iron Man 2
While Robert Downey Jr and his character, Tony Stark, would eventually become popular that wasn’t always the case. And Iron Man 2, the movie where Black Widow first appears in, is remembered as being one of the worst entries the franchise has had to offer so far.
With its over-use of special effects, a dire villain in the form of Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko and loose plot, it’s certainly not a blockbuster that lives in the memory. However, the sight of seeing a strong female in Natasha Romanoff was most welcome, particularly following the Incredible Hulk’s decision to have Betty Ross be the damsel in distress. Her hallway fight scene, in particular, is a highlight. However, the overall poor quality of the movie is why it comes last on the list.
Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Having been one of the standout performers of the first Avengers movie, big things were expected of Black Widow’s character for the sequel, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Yet while we admit we like the chemistry between Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner, Scarlett Johansson’s character actually finds herself being overshadowed for most of the blockbuster.
Instead, it’s Bruce, Tony Stark, Captain America and Thor who get most of the spotlight. That’s no bad thing and the movie certainly isn’t bad at all but, in our opinions, Natasha deserved better. Thankfully, that would be rectified further down the line.
Avengers: Infinity War
If we were ranking these movies on overrall quality, then Avengers: Infinity War certainly wouldn’t be down this low. But it is because, once again, Black Widow appears as more of a spectator than an actual protagonist.
There’s the really cool scene where she teams up with Okoye and Scarlet Witch in order to defeat Proxima Midnight but, that aside, she’s in the background of more scenes involving Thor, Captain America and Tony Stark - with the trio again taking much of the spotlight. It comes higher than Age of Ultron, though, just because Black Widow’s fighting skills on the Wakandan battlefield are a joy to behold.
Avengers
The first Avengers movie is viewed as a modern day classic and part of the reason for its success is that it seems to distribute screen time evenly among everyone.
Black Widow is heavily involved in the action and her quippy relationships with Hawkeye and Bruce Banner leave audiences wanting more. It’s also the movie where her character goes from being a mere, albeit highly-skilled fighter to an actual Avenger, an actual superhero. Plus there’s the beautiful sight of her tricking Loki. We’re thrilled that Scarlett Johansson decided to stay on for three more Avengers movies but, because of her character’s death, it’s unlikely she’ll make it to another.
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: Civil War is the movie where the Avengers are split in two. On one side, there’s Captain America, who believes the Sokovia accords shouldn’t be signed and that superheroes should have the freedom to intervene in any crisis without government approval. On the other team there’s Tony Stark who, after being made to feel guilt-ridden, believes action is required to keep them in line.
And then there’s Black Widow, who does the perfect job of being a foil for both sides. The scenes involving her and T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) are particularly touching and it’s certainly one of Scarlett Johansson’s best outings during her whole time within the MCU.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The Winter Soldier sees Natasha Romanoff are her brilliant best - on all fronts. She’s naturally brilliant at fighting foes (as you’d expect from a superhero) but we see many, many more sides to her character.
She’s flirtatious with Cap himself, despite her feelings for Bruce Banner, and her chemistry with Chris Evans helps the blockbuster succeed in keeping audiences watching with bated breath. She’s also marvelous at confronting Agent Pierce, tricking him and showing that she can do much more than just fight. And she’s authoritative when she speaks in Congress at the end of the movie - with her ruthless words only making us like her even more.
Avengers: Endgame
Everybody involved in Avengers: Endgame gave arguably their best performances to date. But Scarlett Johansson was arguably the pick of the bunch.
It’s genuinely gut-wrenching watching her trying to stay strong at the beginning of the movie, with Johansson’s eyes appearing to be watering in nearly every scene. Her love for her friends is astonishingly powerful, too, and she had everybody welling up when she gives her life for the soul stone in order to save the rest of the universe. Her death is touchingly handled and, when she’s mentioned by Hawkeye at the end of the movie, it makes us want to grab the tissues all over again.
The Cameos
We can’t really rank the cameos - so we’ll just describe them to you instead. She’s seen on television and mentioned during Spider-Man: Homecoming, but it’s definitely a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sort of moment.
In Thor: Ragnarok, she appears as a flashback of sorts, with the bungling Hulk accidentally triggering Black Widow’s message to him at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron all over again.
And, in Captain Marvel, she’s in the post-credits scene when Brie Larsson’s character leaves the Avengers crew stunned when she boldly strolls into their headquarters. You know, as you do…
