Captain America: Civil War: Scarlett Johansson on Black Widow's Role

Steve Rogers is fighting against governmental control in Captain America: Civil War, while Tony Stark is fighting for it — but where does Natasha fit into all of this? Although Black Widow was shown in promo art to be fighting for Team Iron Man, that’s not always as cut and dry as it may seem. Plus, considering this is a Captain America movie through and through, and she was such a large part of The Winter Soldier that it’s hard to imagine she’d return to the shadows for this next bout. And she won’t!

In a new interview with EW, Scarlett Johansson talks about where we pick up with her character this time around and what role she has to play in the Civil War.

avengers-age-of-ultron-scarlett-johansson — Image via Marvel

Here's what she said.

You know, I don’t think she’s ever aspired to become an Avenger. That’s not really a choice that she made. It’s kind of like the events in her life led her to that point and when we see her [in Civil War], she’s finally capable of making a choice for herself. Which is kind of a milestone in someone’s life when they’ve not really participated in the decisions that were made for them. She’s finally at a place where she’s going, “Okay, I actually kind of know what I want. And I think I kind of deserve it.”

As for what role she has to play amid the raucous, which also includes the debut of Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther with his own agenda, Johansson continued:

You know, I think she understands where everyone is coming from. And none of it really matters to her, you know? There’s a bigger problem at hand and she’s, I think, strangely, kind of the mediator. Which is not exactly how you would imagine her to be. But I think she really does see both sides of the coin and I think her strength is that she’s not personally involved.

The MCU version of the Civil War stems from all the disastrous events that have befallen the world in the previous films — including the Chitauri invasion of New York, the helicarriers falling on D.C., and Ultron trying to obliterate humanity by dropping Sokovia on top of them. As a result, the governments of the world unite to pass the Sokovia Accords, harsher restrictions and registrations imposed on superheroes. For Cap and Iron Man, this fight is personal, which means it can always benefit from a third-party perspective.

Captain America: Civil War will hit theaters on May 6, 2016.

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