Anna Daniels
The spy skills of Natasha Romanoff in upcoming Black Widow might have been taken for granted if going by Marvel fan response of late. While it was clear from the very beginning Natasha was a badass superhero, some of her skills were perhaps a little too subtle in action scenes.
In many ways, that gives some added points to all the Avengers films in being rewatchable. Catching the places where Natasha proves her skills also helps set up an appreciation of what she’ll be doing in Black Widow this coming May.
What have some viewers possibly missed in her superhero/spy skills so far? A lot has to do with her reactions, including one reaction from Captain America in trusting Natasha’s judgment.
The sometimes overlooked details in Natasha being an elite spy
Everyone who knows the character of Natasha Romanoff knows she was trained in the elite force of the KGB Red Room in Russia. Because she’s one of the Avengers who doesn’t have superhuman powers, she’s still more or less superhuman anyway based on her stellar training.
She’s skilled in nearly every fighting style, making her capable of taking on physically powerful baddies without flinching. A lot of that can easily be glossed over, though, and it sometimes was in the Avengers movies.
Only in Black Widow will it be reminded how upper level her skills really were before her death. Considering she turned away from the KGB to help fight for the Avengers also proves her as a real hero in understanding good from evil.
By adding to this, she’d often look out for her fellow Avengers during certain scenes. Proof of her skills come in what she keeps an eye on, namely Bruce Banner once at the time of The Avengers in 2012.
All the Avengers films proved Natasha’s skills in moments easy to miss
As someone on Reddit pointed out lately, one of Natasha’s greatest spy skills can only be seen for a brief moment. In Iron Man 2, she goes into a quick battle pose during a fight scene between Tony Stark and James Rhodes in Stark’s mansion.
For most fans, this proves she could react to anything in a split second, something most elite KGB spies would do. However, it’s easy to miss moments like this since it goes by so fast. The same goes with how Natasha reacts to other situations around her.
Another fan noted how she kept an eye on Bruce Banner during the notorious explosion scene on a helicarrier during The Avengers. When everyone else turned in shock at the explosion, Natasha kept her eye on Bruce during his transformation into the Hulk since he was the most pressing threat.
Sure, moments like this might seem like obsessive minutiae, yet they’re useful for helping gain a more well-rounded look at Natasha’s abilities. One has to wonder if a lot of fans are going back to analyze her scenes in the past Avengers scenes to be reminded she might not have been as wasted as some think.
Details like this prove the writers took character development seriously
Seeing easily missed character details like the above will give validation to those who stand up for MCU movies in their quality. The writing teams were clearly putting in little kernels of things fans would pick up on later when re-watching the films.
Not every group of writers would bother to do this for other superhero franchises. Fans will undoubtedly learn even more surprises about Natasha and her Black Widow persona/skills in the upcoming solo movie.
As also seen in the Avengers films, there was a mutual trust between Cap and Natasha to a point where former would wait to gain her approval before doing something dangerous. Everyone will have to wait if such a thing occurs with Natasha’s “family” when visiting them back in her homeland.
Written by: Cheat
