MCU Rewatch Guide: What To Watch Before Black Widow

More than a decade after her debut in Iron Man 2, Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff finally has her own movie, Black Widow, which comes with the strange circumstances of the character already being dead. But thanks to the narrative breadcrumbs offered about her true past – without a great deal of substantial evidence to suggest who she really was before joining the Avengers – Natasha’s backstory remains one of the MCU’s most pressing mysteries.

While Marvel Studios dragged their feet in giving her her own movie – after an attempt to make a Black Widow movie had been hastily dropped around 2004 after the box office failure of Aeon Flux – Natasha has quietly been a pillar of the MCU. That’s despite the reported reluctance of Ike Perlmutter to accept that she (or any female superheroes) could sell toys and merchandise.

In the run-up to Black Widow‘s release, and with 23 films worth of lore behind the two-year fallow period for the MCU, it’s more important to revisit every step on Natasha Romanoff’s story up to this point. Over-looked for too long as a solo lead, she has nevertheless been instrumental in several MCU arcs, and while her story is now over after Endgame’s devastating events, every other appearance so far has been a prelude to the main event of Black Widow.

Iron Man 2

First introduced in Iron Man 2 as Tony Stark’s new assistant, Nat’s debut offered the first sight of what her true superpower was – subterfuge and manipulation. Mercifully, the MCU avoided using the idea of Nat’s sexuality being a weapon after initially presenting her as a love interest for Tony, as it felt a little like a hangover from the days before Marvel Studios treated its female characters with respect. Despite her name, it was never particularly necessary, even though her deception of Tony said something about his own weaknesses in Phase 1. This was also the first chance to see Nat take down men who underestimated her (in the first instance Happy Hogan), as well as her unique fighting skills, including the hurricanrana takedown she has favored in multiple movies.

Captain America: The First Avenger & The Winter Soldier

While Scarlett Johansson’s first appearance in the MCU came with Iron Man 2, her story arguably began earlier thanks to Bucky’s transformation into the Winter Soldier. That, of course, began when he was assumed dead in The First Avenger but survived thanks to Arnim Zola’s super-soldier serum, which became one half of the key ingredients to HYDRA’s most important secret weapon. The other side was the mental reprogramming side of what made him the Winter Soldier, which ties him to the Black Widow program. While the link between Nat and Bucky isn’t as overt in the MCU as it was in the comics, knowing Bucky’s story ahead of Black Widow is an advantage.

In more tangible terms, Natasha played a key role in The Winter Soldier, swapping her allegiance from Iron Man to Captain America as a fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent uncovering and undoing HYDRA’s infiltration of the organization. Most intriguing in Cap’s sequel, of course, was Nat’s willingness to reveal her own past as part of telling the world HYDRA’s secrets, particularly because that hasn’t been explored in the MCU beyond her mention of “red in her ledger”. Black Widow will fill in at least some of the gaps on why her past was weaponized against her and what her past sins were.

The Avengers

The Avengers was the first hint of Natasha’s real past, with her now-infamous line “I’ve been compromised. I’ve got red on my ledger. Now I need to wipe it out” to Loki. It was also the first MCU mention of Budapest, where she and Hawkeye shared a momentous mission that imprinted on them both in different ways. With the mystery of what happened in Hungary hanging over the MCU even after her death, it always seemed inevitable that the answers would come in Black Widow. Adding to that, Loki challenged Natasha’s understatement on what her past sins were, adding an intriguing level of detail that has never been explained: “Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov’s Daughter, Sao Paulo, the hospital fire. Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping. It’s gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?”

It was also long suspected that Black Widow would offer some more insight into the bond that drew Hawkeye and Natasha together, which was first explored in The Avengers when Clint was possessed by Loki. The pair were always presented as very close friends or even pseudo-siblings who had apparently bonded in the field and the jump back in time would be the only way to answer how they came to be so close.

Avengers: Age Of Ultron

After the hints of Natasha’s criminal past before her defection to S.H.I.E.L.D. in The Avengers, Joss Whedon’s Age Of Ultron started to explore the idea of Black Widow as a victim, not just a perpetrator. Thanks to the ingenious introduction of Scarlet Witch’s mind-jacking powers, the sequel offered the first look into her horrifying past in the Red Room, with shades of Jacob’s Ladder thrown in. Ultimately, Whedon’s decision to introduce the idea of her being a self-described “monster” because of the Red Room’s sterilization was a step beyond what was acceptable, but the brief look into her conditioning was a fascinating tease for what might come next should Marvel ever option her solo movie.

Whedon’s other big mistake, of course, was introducing a romantic angle between Natasha and Bruce Banner that both retconned the Hulk’s claim to always being in control but also needlessly wrote the characters into a corner that every other film-maker had no choice but to ignore entirely. But there was something to be said about Natasha’s compulsion to find a family for herself with the Avengers and to seek something like a “normal” life, even if it was in a deeply dysfunctional dynamic and it’s an intriguing launch-point before Black Widow introduces her actual family.

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War ends where Black Widow begins, with Natasha Romanoff on the run after betraying Tony Stark and General Ross, with the former’s warning that she’s now a target ringing loudly in her ears. While Nat’s defection to Team Cap may have been set up as a shock, it very much fit her arc, manipulating situations to gain intel and strengthen her own position. On top of that, it never quite made sense that she would fully endorse the idea of the Sokovia Accords, given the black marks against her and how she had been forced to navigate laws in her pre-Avengers career. After her deception was revealed, Stark told her to run and hide, which she dutifully did, going into hiding before turning up as part of Steve Rogers’ Secret Avengers without explanation in Infinity War. Black Widow will fill in everything that came between those two points.

Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame

It’s best to consider the huge event of the Infinity Saga’s climax as a single event for setting up Black Widow because Infinity War itself feels like something of a precursor to the end of Natasha’s story in Endgame. And while both come after Black Widow in the timeline, both include important moments that change how Nat’s stand-alone movie will play out. First is the question of how she returned to the fold as a Secret Avenger in the run-up to Infinity War, since Civil War ended with her on the run. And second is the issue of her death and – most pertinently – why she fundamentally believed that she should be the one to give her life up on Vormir to allow Hawkeye to live. Watching the MCU in order would obviously place both movies after Black Widow, but they add something – particularly to the end of Johansson’s solo outing – that makes them both a worthy precursor.

About The Author

Simon Gallagher
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Simon is a veteran editor who has been writing online since 2010 – long before anyone wanted to read his work. He loves Clueless. Like, a lot.

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