Black Widow (MCU) Respect Thread
By anthp2000 87 Comments
This is an upgrade to the old RT in this page. Apparently, the bullet point style works well, so this will be a re-organised, complete version of the same character breakdown. Once again, keep in mind that the purpose of respct threads is to present every accomplishment of a character. It is up to everyone to develop an opinion on their abilities in the end. Black Widow is upon as by December, so a quick fresh up of Natasha's badassery throughout the past 10 years should be nice.
Natalia Alianovna Romanova, "The Black Widow" [MCU]
Intro.
"Natasha Romanoff was trained from a young age to cultivate a very specific set of skills in a Russian facility called the Red Room. There she honed the skills that would turn her into a human warrior who continues to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with super soldiers, Asgardians and people in armored suits. However, she eventually eschewed her KGB masters, switched allegiances and began working for the good guys."
Marvel.com, Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), full on-screen report
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Table of Contents.
- Biography.
- Training.
- Espionage & Assassination.
- Stealth & Situational Awareness.
- Intellect, Tactical Ability & Quick, Deductive Thinking.
- Piloting & Hacking.
- Resources.
- Spy Equipment.
- Physicality.
- Hand-To-Hand Combat.
- Miscellaneous Skills.
- Combat Equipment.
- Notable Battles.
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I. Biography.
Natalia Romanova was born in Stalingard, Russia in 1984. At a young age, she was recruited by the KGB to be trained as a spy and assassin in the Red Room Training Programme, from where she graduated and grew to become one of the most efficient and renowned killers on the planet. Due to her continuous growing threat to Global Security, she got under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s and Nick Fury's radar, who in response sent special agent Clint Barton to eliminate her. The Hawk spared her however, seeing as she would be an excellent asset to the spy organisation, taking her in. Natasha quickly rose through the ranks of the S.H.I.E.L.D., became one of the most efficient agents and eventually, a founding member of the Avengers, an Initiative Director Fury designed composed of the earth's mightiest individuals to defend the planet that humanity never could. Romanoff met and was aspired by Steve Rogers, a living legend, and her teammates, defending the world against Loki, Ultron and eventually Thanos and their armies.
After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., everything went downhill. The Sokovia Accords, the Lagos incident, the Avengers' Civil War and Thanos' invasion were all timely put together to separate the Avengers, with Natasha going undercover as a fugitive alongside Rogers and Wilson. During the war for the Infinity Stones, Natasha fought Thanos' army, but he proved too powerful. The Decimation was accomplished, and half the world's population was wiped out.
Five years later, the remaining Avengers broke apart, and Natasha took point of the New Avengers Facility, remotely working with Nebula and Rocket Raccoon, James Rhodes, General Okoye and Carol Danvers to try and restore the world's balance. With Scott Lang coming out of the Quantum Realm, the Avengers along with Stark invented a way of "time travel", which they utilised to go a few years back and retrive the stones before Thanos could in order to undo the Decimation. Natasha and her fellow Avenger, Clint, were tasked with retrieving the Soul Stone from Vormir. Learning that they had to sacrifice something they loved to gain the stone, they fought over who would make the fall and ended up hanging on a cliff-side. Natasha chose to fall to her death to save half the universe, ensuring Barton that it was okay.
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II. Training.
"Young Natasha Romanoff took part in the KGB's secret "Red Room" spy training programme, emerging with a finely honed physique and a mind unrivalled in its steeliness. Natasha became one of the world's most ruthless spies and assassins whose code name - that of a deadly spider - is well deserved."
Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary, "Black Widow"
Natasha was taken in as part of the "Black Widow Programme", the advanced training programme of the original Russian assassin one that had been training individuals since before WWII, and trained "by the best", she was raised, forced to kill not just threats of the Soviet Union's security agency, but also her fellow trainees to survive, and graduate as the single most efficient student, never failing a single test.
Young girls are brainwashed and rigolously trained in espionage in all its glory (Infiltration, Hacking, Diplomacy, Multilingualism, Piloting, Interrogation, Disguise, Observation, Stealth among others). The final test of the perfect assassin consists of killing with no remorse.
Trained to physical perfection, Natasha developed mastery over the martial arts, as much as all manners of weapons, be it either traditional or high tech ones. Occasionally, the girls would be forced to duel each other to death, until only a few students remained. The graduation ceremony for the survivors, included sterilization, to wipe out every possible weakness from their life, force them to focus solely on their work as covert operatives.
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III. Skill Set.
- Espionage Expert
- Infiltration & Escape Artist
- Master of Disguise
- Multilinguist
- Expert Pilot
- Master Hacker
- Expert Diplomat
- Observation & Intelligence Gathering
- Master of Interrogation
- Stealth Expert
- Expert in Tactical Analysis
- Master Assassin
- Master Martial Artist
- Expert Markswoman
- Expert Gymnast
- Weapons Specialist
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IV. Espionage. Assassination.
- S.H.I.E.L.D. considers the Black Widow the 'perfect spy and assassin'. (S.H.I.E.L.D. Personell Files)
- While working as an assassin for the KGB, Natasha was considered a major threat to Global Security, leading Nick Fury to task Special Agent Hawkeye with eliminating her. (S.H.I.E.L.D. Personell Files)
- According to Maria Hill's evaluations, Natasha has the highest espionage record in S.H.I.EL.D. (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1E01, "Pilot")
- Nick Fury considers the Black Widow his best operative (Iron Man 2: Black Widow: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
- He personally handpicks the members of the Avengers Initiative upon deeming them worthy, with extremely strict criteria. (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- Successfully infiltrated Stark Industries posing as Natalie Rushman, Tony and Pepper's personal assisstant, closely evaluating Iron Man for the Avengers Initiative and handing in a full report to Nick Fury. (Iron Man 2)
- Successfully infiltrated an undercover base of the 10 Rings in Russia under Coulson's directions, gathers intel on their plans and hijacks a large weapons shipment in one night. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Interrogated Loki, the God of Mischief, and tricked him into revealing his plan to take down the Avengers to her. (The Avengers)
- One of Natasha's interrogation techniques is feigning submissiveness to instill overconfidence in a subject so that they inadvertently volunteer information. (Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's The Avengers)
- This technique was applied in her encounter with Georgi Luchkov, a rogue military leader of the Soviet Union, who was 'giving [her] everything'. (The Avengers)
- Nick Fury designed a lie detector with the sole purpose that Romanoff wouldn't beat it. The lie detector measures galvanic skin response, oxygen consumption, microexpressions, biofeedback, brainwaves, pupil dilation, voice biometrics. Ninety-six variables in all, and Fury still couldn't tell wether or not she beat it. (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1E19, "The Only Light in the Darkness")
- Applying her knowledge in human psychology and undercover training, she runs circles around Brock Rumlow and his S.T.R.I.K.E. agents, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most elite tactical team, sent by Alexander Pierce to apprehend her and Rogers, whom she was subtly tutoring in the process. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) The Russo brothers mention that Steve was forced to play by her rules to survive this situation. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Director's Commetary)
- Victoria Hand states that Romanoff and Barton never had an extraction plan going in on operations, instead she could make an extraction plan and successfully follow it on the spot (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S1E07, "The Hub")
- Somehow, Natasha pinpointed the location of Fury's U.S.B. device after Rogers hid it inside the hospital's vending machine, and retrieved it without him noticing. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Successfully infiltrated Forte Meade to retrieve the Falcon EXO-07 suit, behind three guarded gates and a twelve-inch steel wall, noting before that 'it shouldn't be a problem'. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Natasha's espionage training makes her an effective diplomat. (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary) She represented the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D. during court with the U.S. Government after the Hydra Uprising (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and attented the signing of the Sokovia Accords in Vienna as the Avengers' official representative. (Captain America: Civil War)
- After her aliases and secret identities were revealed to the public by S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha spent a year around the world creating new covers for herself. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Natasha often conceals pistols in locations she visits in case of escalation, when she recruited Bruce Banner (The Avengers) and in Tony Stark's house party. (Avengers: Age of Ultron).
- Using S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets and her personal resources, she collected and isolated intelligence and made a complete file on the Winter Soldier, his past and his missions, for Steve in a day. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Captured by Ultron Prime, Natasha used a traditional spy technique based on morse code, originating during the Cold War to contact Hawkeye with radio transmissions that Ultron himself couldn't pick up. She used Ultron's older body to construct these mechanisms. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Natasha is fluent in an unknown number of languages, which includes Russian, English, French, Italian, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Latin. (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- After personally teaching Wanda Maximoff and the New Avengers the art of espionage, her and Vision could go on the run alone as fugitives and blend in for over a year. (Avengers: Infinity War)
- “We have intentionally tried to strip that accent away for a couple of reasons. One is you’ll notice at the beginning of Civil War that Black Widow is training her to be a spy, and two is she’s been on the run, and one of the most distinguishing characteristics that she has is her accent." - Joe and Anthony Russo, Interview for "Avengers: Infinity War"
- Natasha tracked down Clint Barton, gone rogue as the assassin Ronin, in Tokyo in a few days once she stepped into the field herself. Colonel James Rhodes with all his resources couldn't locate him for years. (Avengers: Endgame)
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V. Stealth. Situational Awareness.
- Her S.H.I.E.L.D. file states she can hide in plain sight. (S.H.I.E.L.D. Personell Files)
- Sneaks up on Loki, appearing out of nowhere right in front of his cell with him not realising until she's positioned herself. (The Avengers)
- Script of the scene. (Marvel's The Avengers Script by Joss Whedon)
- While hacking into a computer system in the 10 Rings' base, Natasha dodges multiple AR shots fired by a Russian assassin from behind her without looking. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Hawkeye does not detect Natasha watching and approaching him until she appears at point blank range from his. (The Avengers)
- Perfectly processes the situation and anticipates the Winter Soldier's next move thrice, avoids a headshot, rescues Steve and then kicks Sam out of the way when Bucky attempts to assassinate them in Washington D.C. in the span of 2 seconds (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Immediately pinpoints the location of Crossbones' two henchmen running inside a fully crowded market, without having full view of the market herself. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) Falcon needed the Red Wing to locate them.
- 'Outreacts' War Machine and Black Panther when Ant-Man and Cap throw a truck and a size-altering disk that is about to blow them up. (Captain America: Civil War)
- After training with Natasha, the Scarlet Witch could sense Hawkeye sneaking inside the room behind her from several yards away (Captain America: Civil War)
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VI. Intellect. Tactical Ability. Quick / Deductive Thinking.
- Natasha is deemed a 'master hacker' by Marvel. (Marvel.com)
- While been chased down by the Hulk, makes clever use of the environment shooting a steam-pipe above him to briefly blind him and get away. (The Avengers)
- She's the one out of the Avengers to figure out they need to approach the portal to the Chitauri's world without brawn but brains (The Avengers)
- Using one of her concealed Widow's Stings, she disables the killing device Alexander Pierce put on her and the other members of the World Council giving Fury the opening to shoot him down (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Heidi Moneymaker, Scarlett Johansson's stunt double, takes note of Natasha having to use her brain a lot in and be smart about her every move even in combat, due to her lack of superpowers. (Interview with the Stunt Doubles of Captain America: Civil War)
- In a moment's notice, Natasha is the one to figure out Crossbones' plan for a battering ram heading towards the IFID HQ just by hearing Sam saying the truck's at maximum weight and the driver's armed. (Captain America: Civil War)
- Before a grenade can go off locked inside a truck, Natasha takes out one of Crossbones' armed guards, then uses the other one as a body shield to survive the explosion with no real injuries. (Captain America: Civil War)
- Outsmarts the Winter Soldier using her mobile device with a recording of her voice seemingly calling S.H.I.E.L.D. for reinforces, tricking him into thinking she's hiding behind the car and waiting for the right moment to catch him off guard. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Discussing the gathering of the Infinity Stones, alone in a room with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, she's the one to figure out that 3 out of the 6 Infinity Stones are located in close proximity with one another during the right year (Avengers: Endgame)
- She is also very resourceful in combat, using everyday items as weapons (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes)
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VII. Piloting. Hacking.
- Natasha is a skilled and experienced pilot capable of taking control of almost any aircraft with complete confidence. (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- She is experienced in vehicular combat, firing weapons and dodging projectiles during off-road driving (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- Successfully closes in on Ultron with Hawkeye's remote guidance, making her way through an entire city full of trucks, cars and human population with nothing slowing her down, making some particularly impressive maneuvers on her advanced motorcycle in the process, rescuing Cap by hading him the shield and reaching Vision's android body (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- With an impressive maneuver, she can also use the motorcycle itself as a weapon at a moment's notice. (Captain America: Civil War)
- Piloting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Quinjets, she can dodge high speed energy attacks from Loki's Scepter. (The Avengers)
- Drives one of Hydra's battle trucks at high speeds in a forest while dealing with incoming attacks. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Alongside Clint, she pilots the Benatar, the main spacecraft of the Guardians of the Galaxy. (Avengers: Endgame)
- She successfully hacked into Tony Stark's database to gain intel on the Iron Man armor and Stark's security guidelines, without Tony realising (Iron Man 2). She then disabled all communication in Stark Tower to prevent contact with the outside world (Iron Man 2).
- Natasha breaks into Ivan Vanko's computer system in Hammer Industries, remotely gains access to the War Machine suit, and in a matter of seconds, she shuts down Vanko's effects on it and reboots it for Rhodey to use freely. (Iron Man 2)
- Hacks into the computer system on the Lemurian Star and collects the secret files Alexander Pierce put in. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Natasha attempts to decrypt the USB flashdrive she acquired from the Lemurian Star, and while she does not manage to get past the firewalls and the Al set up by Arnim Zola, she does manage to apply one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s tracing programs to pin down the location of where the Al was been applied from. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Natasha successfully infiltrates the main computer system of the Triskelion, disables the firewalls and the security protocols and gains access to every single one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s global files within minutes. Actually uploading the files on the internet required the Omega level access, but gaining access to the organisation's secrets was Natasha's work. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
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VIII. Resources
Natasha has direct ties to Tony Stark and Stark Industries as well as Nick Fury and the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D.Those are probably her major connections as far as resources go. She also took over as one of the World Leaders in the Avengers Tower after the Decimation, working alongside James Rhodes, Carol Danvers, Okoye and Rocket Raccoon to restore balance as much as possible. She most likely has other connections from her past we don't know of yet.
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IX. Spy Equipment (outside her standard combat gear, Natasha has access to spcialised spy tech).
- Stealth Suit for Black-Ops
- Lock picking gadgets
- Advanced Mobile Device
- Heat Signatures tracing
- Wave Transmission tracing
- Recording function
- Photostatic Veil
- Glider Harness
- Mechanical window opener
- Line Launcher
- Encrypted earpiece & communications device attached to her Gauntlets
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X. Physical Stats (Strength. Durability. Pain Tolerance. Agility. Speed.).
- Eric Johnson, Scarlett Johansson's personal trainer for Avengers: Endgame, states the Black Widow can lift 500 pounds. (Interview for Avengers: Endgame)
- “What is the Black Widow able to do? Lift 500 pounds," says Johnson, who strategizes how to get Johansson as close as possible to these fantasy stats, including on Avengers: Endgame, opening April 26."
- Black Widow can lift 500 lbs in the 616 Universe - the main comic book continuity - so it is questionable if they were referring to this version of the character. It is still a considerable note, however, given they take this into account for the MCU version of her. It is up to everyone's interpretation, but I felt the need to point that out.
- Marvel states that Natasha boasts 'ultimate human levels of strength, agility and stamina'. (Marvel.com)
- Natasha leaps on Captain America's shield, then grabs a Chitauri Charriot going at blur speeds with one arm [1], holds onto it for a while, climbs on top of it, cuts down the Chitauri metal chain and sends the Chitauri Soldier flying with a kick [2]. She then jumps onto the next Charriot and gains control [3]. Once she reaches the portal, she makes a roughly 4 foot tall flip and tanks an enormous multi-story fall with no injuries [4]. (The Avengers)
- Keep in mind that at that point of the same day, Natasha had endured a chasedown by the Hulk, a metal pipe crushing on her leg from a point blank explosion, a fight with a bloodlusted Hawkeye and about 2 hours of fighting hordes of the Chitauri - real time of the battle revealed in a discussion with Rocket Raccoon. (Avengers: Endgame)
- Sends a fully armored assassin flying through glass and wood with a kick (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes I)
- Knocks out a mercenary wearing a helmet, by kicking his head on the roof of a truck. (Captain America: Civil War)
- Knocks out Hawkeye with one mighty punch - a punch that finally freed his mind of the Mind Stone's effects - after slamming his head on metal bars. (The Avengers)
- Staggers the Winter Soldier, charges at him with a knee and forces him back groaning in pain [1], lands a punch on the leg - not the crotch, the knee [2] (hit's already landed on the third frame) - and chokes him out with quite a noticable effect for a Super Soldier [3] - while hitting him with elbows on the skull in an attempt to snap him out of mind control (Spider-Man: Homecomping Prelude), unfortunately she doesn't make it [4] (Captain America: Civil War)
- Sends a fully armored mechanical Hydra suit flying with a kick, kicking open a reinforced door in the process. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- The exo-sceleton is composed of Chitauri metal (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- Sends a Hydra agent flying with an elbow and snaps the necks of two more agents simultaneously using her thigh grip and upper body strength, [1], [2]. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Overpowers Barnes' firing arm with a kick and pulls him backwards with her fiber wire. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Knocks down Corvus Glaive with a spin kick. (Avengers: Infinity War)
- Staggers Proxima Midnight with a double kick. (Avengers Infinity War)
- Recovers in moments from large slabs of concrete falling on her. (The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week VI)
- Tanks a rocket going off at close range (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Takes a hit from the Hulk, who was smashing steel beams in the process. (The Avengers)
- Tanks an elbow from Hawkeye directly in the face (The Avengers)
- Tanks been thrown by the Winter Soldier on a car face-straight a few yards away (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Gets shot with an AR near the chest, she can still stand and walk minutes later despite losing a lot of blood (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Tanks a high fall on top of the Hulk, gets thrown away several yards and lands perfectly on her feet. (Avegers: Age of Ultron)
- Grant Ward states that any agent worth their salt can 'adapt to pain, push it away'. (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. S2E21, "S.O.S. I")
- Dorothy Underwoof, a graduate of the precursor to the Black Widow Programme, stated this in terms of the training she endured when she was threatened in an interrogation:
- Using a henchman as a human shield, she tanks a direct explosion that blasted the steel door behind her and sent her flying out of the truck. (Captain America: Civil War)
- Tanks a knee from Proxima Midnight in the face, and gets back up immediately. (Avengers: Infinity War)
- In an alternate death scene on Vormir, Natasha ran towards the cliff while her and Hawkeye were under attack by Thanos. She took 3 energy blasts that went right through her armor and body, to the other side, and stayed conscious, pushed herself to the end of the cliff, and even gunned down an alien in this condition. (Avengers: Endgame)
- Natasha exceeds the greatest olympic athletes in acrobatic ability and gymnastic skills. (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- Deflects an arrow from Hawkeye at point blank range using her gauntlets, then hits Clint with a Sting before he can react. (The Avengers Prelude: The Avengers Initiative)
- Makes a full forward somersault and turns it into a double kick. (Iron Man 2)
- Jumps out of a moving vehicle and kicks a Hydra agent. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Maneuvers around the Helicarrier's lower levels to run from the Hulk, with a hurt leg. (The Avengers)
- Times two repulsor blasts while riding a motorcycle. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Aerially somersaults in between two repulsor blasts without looking, then lands and turns the evasion into offence (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Outpaces large amounts of automatic gunfire fired by small mecha-tanks with sensors (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Gracefully leaps through a laser barrier (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Outpaces Hawkeye's aim. (The Avengers)
- Times the Winter Soldier's RPG (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Times the Winter Soldier's RPG again, parkours out of the way, evades a speeding car, outpaces a Hydra tactical team armed with Colt M4A1s and leaps out of cover before the car explosion caused by Bucky's missile launcher can reach her at point blank range, firing her Line mid-fall and landing on her feet (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Outdraws the Winter Soldier after he slams her on a car, firing a Sting at his metal arm before he can pull the trigger, even though he already had his arm pointed at her. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Before the capsule with the biological weapon can fall to the ground from a 5-foot long height, she guns down a mercenary with his gun aimed at her, and makes a forward slip to catch, landing perfectly on her feet afterwards (Captain America: Civil War)
- Closes in on Crossbones' men balancing herself on her motorcycle, then doing some fast paced parkour without slowing down through a market full of obstacles and civilians [1], [2]. (Captain America: Civil War)
- With a headstart, Natasha is running so fast that the Hulk chasing her in the form of a blur does not get to her for almost 10 seconds. (The Avengers)
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XI. Hand-to-Hand Combat.
- Marvel describes her as a 'Master Fighter', listing some of her preferred unarmed styles; karate, judo, kung fu and wrestling. (Marvel.com)
- She's shown mastery over spears, knives, staves, batons and improvised wire-like weapons among others.
- Natasha's knowledge of martial arts is unrivalled. Due to this and her physical abilities, she is considered one of the most dangerous people on the planet. (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary) Worth noting that this guidebook, signed by Feige's second in command, takes into account every fighter in the MCU films.
- Heidi Moneymaker, Scarlett Johansson's stunt double, states that Black Widow incorporates 'every fighting style' in combat. (Interview with the Stunt Doubles of Captain America: Civil War)
- Scarlett Johansson notes the incorporation of gymnastics and a dance background to Widow's unique hand to hand fighting style;
- "My character is an expert in hand-to-hand combat, she's a mixed martial artist, she comes from a dance background, there's some gymnastics thrown into it, it's kind of everything all thrown into one big fighting machine." - Scarlett Johansson (Interview with Scarlett Johansson for Iron Man II)
- Takes out several Hammer Industries guards using unarmed combat and a garrote wire [1], [2], [3], [4] (Iron Man 2)
- Takes out at least 10 armed guards of the 10 Rings base in Russia on top of a steel beam, after noting that this is only halfway to a fair fight. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Easily takes out General Luchkov's hired muscle while tied to a chair [1], [2]. (The Avengers)
- Defeats hordes of Chitauri Soldiers using their own spears in close quarters combat [1], [2] (The Avengers)
- Takes out 3 of Batroc's 'top mercs' untagged. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- She is showcasing the advantages of superior agility in close combat here, particularly against a number of opponents, performing swft catwheels and perefect body balance to quickly close in from one henchman to the other while in a grounded position, and then abuse leverage to drop him, after wearing him down with precise elbows and side-kicks. Also note the momentum she builds using these tactics, her sweep kick sent this fully armored man flying off the ground and a couple of feet into the air, after breaking his arm.
- Marvel describes her as a 'Master Fighter', listing some of her preferred unarmed styles; karate, judo, kung fu and wrestling. (Marvel.com)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
- ). An interesting note is that S.T.R.I.K.E. would not even attempt to infiltrate the Director's office with Natasha in there, without Rumlow himself back-up.
- The fight as presented in the tie in comics. (Marvel's Black Widow Prelude I)
- Defeats four fully armored and armed assassins working for Eaglestar after they ambush and surround her unarmed in her hotel room. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes I)
- Takes down some of Klaue's large mercenaries unarmed in extreme close quarters. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Using her batons, guns along with efficient takedowns and submission holds in close quarters, she destroys hordes of Ultron Sentries (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Dominates Ant-Man, notably countering the size-altering properties of his suit [1], [2], [3] (Captain America: Civil War)
- Takes out 9 of Crossbones' fully armed and armored mercenaries (Captain America: Civil War)
- Breaks out of Crossbones' grip. (Captain America: Civil War) Unfortunately, his newfound immunity to pain caught her off guard, so he managed to BFR her.
- Fights Crossbones' top men [1], [2] (Captain America: Civil War)
- The the technical aspect and dexterity in Natasha's movements is the most notable aspect of this sequence.
- Outmaneuvers Captain America and lands a neck strike, disarming him off his shield, all before he could touch her. (Captain America: Civil War)
- The sequence was written in and animated, but wasn't included due to time restraints. (Interview with the Captain America: Civil War screenwriters)
- Matches Hawkeye blow for blow before Scarlet Witch interferes, although as she states they were 'pulling [their] punches'. (Captain America: Civil War)
- Takes down a geared up Hawkeye tasked by Loki with killing her, without the use of weapons (The Avengers)
- The Russo brothers state that Natasha is a better fighter than Clint, based on this fight, considering it for the future movies.
- “It’s a fight to see who’s going to kill themselves. It’s a crazy concept for a scene. And as you’ve seen in The Avengers, she’s a better fighter than he is. So when it comes down to a fight between the two of them, she wins.” - Joe Russo (Interview for Avengers: Endgame)
- Outgrapples and pins down Hawkeye while in a disadvantageous position. She even provides herself with an opening to stun him with the Bite. (Avengers: Endgame)
- Defeats Corvus Glaive using Proxima Midnight's spear - contrary to a common criticism, she did not surprise attack him either, he turned around and tried to attack her while she was about 10 feet away from him. (Avengers: Infinity War)
- Holds her ground against Proxima Midnight using her collapsible, electric staff, effectively defends against her, deals a staggering double kick, outmaneuvers and disarms her and maintains a strong defence until Scarlet Witch regains consciousness and kills her. [1], [2], [3] (Avengers: Infinity War)
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XII. Marksmanship.
- Natasha is an expert markswoman even using adapted alien arms. (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary) Trained in the use of various firearms, including Bucky's currently preferred M249 AR. (Captain America: Civil War)
- She can even dual wield heavy arms. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Skilled in the use of RPGs (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Lands headshots on Chitauri Soldiers from a distance, while dealing with incoming fire. (The Avengers)
- Draws and fires mid-catwheel while outpacing fully automatic gunfire from mechs armed with sensors. She also had to pinpoint weak spots on the machine whilst doing so. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes III)
- Takes out a group of Batroc's armored mercenaries while descending from a wire (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Natasha crosses the bridge's width to the other side and hides from Bucky, who while above her targets Cap's position. Just in time, Nat pops up and takes a shot at him, hitting his goggles. A couple of things to note here: he was not in her line of sight, she used his shadow to calculate his position and succesfully quickscope him in the face. Most of his face was covered in bulletproof material so he survived. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Another thing to note is the draw speed/rapid firing here. Again, it's too fast to catch with a blind eye, but for a split second after Bucky's goggles are shot, we see Natasha's already shot 5 more times in that direction - once again, in less than a single second. The first one did hit the target, the others were less accurate for obvious reasons that cannot be used against her considering the target wasn't in her line of sight.
- Lands a headshot on an attacking Iron Legion armor without looking. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- In the flashbacks from Age of Ultron, we see a young Natasha training at shooting range in the Red Room. Take note because it's difficult to catch what she does without going over it again. She lands 2 headshots, she then switches arm and goes for a '10' and a '9' shot. The second quick switch between her arms is not a continuing part of the same sequence - it's a new shooting range with a new target, where in less than a single second she replicates the 4 shots we see her landing beforehand (2 headshots, a '9' and a '10') plus an additional fifth one on the '9 points' range. So not only did she land 5 shots in brief moments/a split second, they were also extremely precise shots, 4 of them actually hitting the exact same spots of the previous ones. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Lands repeated eyeshots at close range to take down charging Ultron Sentries, also note that she makes 5 of those in the span of 3 seconds (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Demonstrates expert sniper skills aiming for Sitwell's tie from a distance where she remained invisible (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Natasha also has a good arm, using various weapons, throwing knives and batons, targetting weak points of the body at medium range - like her electric batons on the neck [1], and Captain America's shield. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
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XIII. Misc. Skills.
- She is also an expert diver. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes II)
- She has knowledge on emergency first aid. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- The regular Red Room graduates are master thieves, Dorothy Underwood could pickpocket Jarvis' wrist-watch out of his sleeve with her hands tied down to a chair. (Agent Carter: S2E06, "Life of the Party")
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XIV. Combat Equipment.
- Composite Tactical Battlesuit
- Widow's Bite
- Collapsible Staff
- Dual Batons
- Gauntlet Discharge
- Widow's Stings
- Collapsible Staff
- Widow's Line
- Utility Belt
- Dual Knives
- Garrote
- Smoke Discs - operate either as Flash Bombs, or Smoke Grenades
- Hand Grenades & Miniature Explosives
- Dual Glocks 26 loaded w/armor piercing rounds
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XV. Gear Breakdown.
- Tactical suit designed by S.H.I.E.L.D. and further developed by Stark for heavy combat (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- Primarily composed of flexible, bulletproof fabric, further reinforced kevlar on the torso, the knees and the elbows (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary)
- Internal titanium shin armour plating on the legs
- Kinetic rebounding soles on boots
- Blade resistant and flame retardant (S.H.I.E.L.D. Personell Files)
- Widow's Bite, multifunctional gauntlets designed by S.H.I.E.L.D. and further upgraded by Tony Stark. The Bite can unleash a powerul discharge of great voltage. (Guidebook to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Marvel's Iron Man II)
- All the below showings were performed as Natasha was using the lowest setting for the Bite; 40,000 to 50,000 volts. The maximum voltage ranges from 250,000 to 350,000 volts, five to seven times more powerful. According to Shuri, the lowest setting can lead to weakened or sore muscles, crapling, epidermal burns, temporary nerve damage and temporary lapses in consciousness. Juxtaposed to this, the highest setting can deal permanent nerve damage, third degree sub-dermal burns, loss of vision, and death. (The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond).
- The Gauntlets can be used for standard defence [1] (The Avengers Prelude: The Avengers Initiative)
- The Bite projects electricity that can 'stun and disorient even the most powerful foes'. (S.H.I.E.L.D. Personell Files)
- Could almost instantly incapacitate the Chitauri targetting pressure points. (The Avengers)
- Could stun Captain America with enough voltage to disarm him off his shield. (Captain America: Civil War)
- The above output can be used on the double. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Widow's Stings, small taser disks when launched near the opponent deliver a powerful discharge that can take out numerous targets at once without the need for direct contact [1], [2] (Iron Man 2), (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes I)
- The standard issue Stings by S.H.I.E.L.D. were strong enough to drop S.T.R.I.K.E. agents capable of resisting taser rods [1], and temporarily disable the Winter Soldier's bionic arm [2] (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- The Bite projects electricity that can 'stun and disorient even the most powerful foes'. (S.H.I.E.L.D. Personell Files)
- Upgraded by Stark, the Stings deliver discharge powerful enough to subdue the Black Panther (Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary) and slow him down for over a minute [1].
- Shuri states that one of the reasons she upgraded the Panther Habit was Widow's encounter with Panther. "Brother has mentioned on many occasions how he felt foolish that the Black Widow's projectile bites were able to keep him from pursuing Rogers at the Berlin airport. The new nanotechnology and kinetic disbursement in his suit should prevent a repeat issue." (The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond)
- The new upgrade allows for long-range use with automatic shooters, with the disks launched at speed likely well above conventional arrows or RPGs, even T'Challa - enhanced to reaction speed of close range bullet timing - couldn't react in time when he was shot with them, granted he was caught off guard, [1], [2]. (Captain America: Civil War) Powers up concealed, 2.5 foot long dual batons, can be customised to fit the occasion.
- charged electric staves to take on Ultron's army (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- strong enough to drop Ultron Sentries targetting pressure points (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- the staves deliver up to 300,000 volts at 4.5 milliamps of current (The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond)
- Non-lethal, traditional tonfa to take on her teammates (Captain America: Civil War)
- upgraded electric staves, joined to a larger, 5 foot long staff (Avengers: Infinity War)
- The material of the staff is strong enough to clash with Proxima Midnight's weapons (Avengers: Infinity War)
- the electric output combined with Natasha's own efforts are enough to make Outriders bleed open and drop them (Avengers: Infinity War)
- Widow's Line, a long wire launched out of Natasha's gauntlets (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Can be used to non-lethally strangle grown men. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Soften high falls. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
- Natasha is skilled enough with it to precisely tie it around Hawkeye's suit and connect him to its end on a cliff in mid-air. (Avengers: Endgame)
- Dual Knives (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- They are strong enough to penetrate Chitauri armor, and cut down a Chitauri metal chain. (The Avengers)
- Standard issue garrote with metalic handles on the opposite ends. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes I)
- Can be used lethally, cutting down the carotid arteries of the target. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes II)
- Or, non-lethally, forcing them to lose consciousness. (Iron Man 2)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Smoke Discs that produce similar effects to flashbangs and tear gas. (Iron Man 2)
- Can also be used for larger scale smoke-screens. (The Avengers Prelude: Black Widow Strikes II)
- Hand grenades with enough firepower to destroy reinforced Hydra trucks, shown previously to be resistant to blunt force (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Miniature bombs with set Timers, capable of blowing up larger container trucks. (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
- Dual Glocks 26, Natasha's standard firearms of choice, several years now for every mission.
- The Glocks are loaded with 17 rounds of armor piercing bullets each. (The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week VII)
- She also carries silencers to use on stealth missions. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
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XVI. Notable Battles.
This section will just be 4 fight scenes from around the films (2012-2018 in the original timeline) that I consider Natasha's most impressive, demonstrating her versatile abilities and putting them to test against dangerous opponents. I've made these analyses myself before so I felt like including them here. I will include annotations of the opponents to highlight the threat level the character's gone up against.
Battle on the Helicarrier (The Avengers)
"This is Agent Romanoff. I copy."
Battle of Sokovia (Avengers: Age of Ultron)
"Let's finish the job."
Battle in Washington D.C. (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)
"Did I step on your moment?"
Battle of Wakanda (Avengers: Infinity War)
"Looks like we pissed her off."
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This is it, folks. Respect the Widow!