MCU: 10 Actors Who Redefined Their Characters
6. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow)
Natasha Romanov is one of Marvel's more complicated heroines/anti-heroines. Due to the nature of her profession, she's often portrayed as duplicitous and flip-flopping on her morality. Of course, because of that, most comic readers didn't really know what to make of her. What could Scarlett Johansson do to give her more of an identity?
Initially a red herring love interest in the jumbled Iron Man sequel and then the token girl in The Avengers, ScarJo's breakout performance as Black Widow came in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as well as Avengers: Age of Ultron. It was there where Johansson's cool veneer was mixed with pathos to create one of the more complex MCU protagonists. Through her bonds with Cap, Hawkeye, and Bruce Banner, Natasha's been transformed from merely a duplicitous spy into a wounded heart that wants to heal others.
Corny? Overly sentimental? Perhaps, but it's just giving credit where credit is due. People may accuse ScarJo of giving robotic or cold performances, but that's because she plays roles where the characters don't wear hearts on their sleeves. Their hearts have to be found, and that is definitely the case for Black Widow. And because of that, she's transformed the character forever.