Natalia Alianovna Romanova , more commonly known as Natasha Romanoff , is a fictional character primarily portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe MCU media franchise βbased on the Marvel Comics character of the same name βsometimes known by her alias , Black Widow.
Romanoff is depicted as an expert spy and hand-to-hand combatant , trained in the Red Room from childhood to be a KGB assassin. This brought her onto S. When Nick Fury activates the Avengers Initiative , she becomes a founding member.
Following the fallout related to the Sokovia Accords , Romanoff became a fugitive and eventually reunited with her adopted family, including sister Yelena Belova.
They worked together to destroy General Dreykov 's Black Widow program. After Thanos erases half of all life , Romanoff leads the Avengers for five years until she sacrifices herself to obtain the Soul Stone , successfully helping the Avengers restore trillions of lives across the universe. Romanoff was introduced in Iron Man 2 and became a central MCU character, appearing in nine films, including her final live-action appearance in Black Widow Alternate versions of the character appear in the animated series What If?
These versions include an incarnation of Romanoff, who sees her world decimated by an alternate version of Ultron , eventually resulting in her being recruited into the Guardians of the Multiverse by the Watcher. Eventually, Clint Barton is sent to kill Romanoff, but instead chooses to spare her life and recruit her to S.
