SCARLETT JOHANSSON: We'd love to take this character
in every different direction.
I think she certainly encounters her fair share of the Marvel Universe.
It's nice to be able to play a superheroine who has a past.
You know, she obviously has been around for over, what, 40 years.
And I think has a real foundation
for all different kinds of spinoffs
or interactions with other characters.
I think the possibilities are really endless.
JON FAVREAU: In Iron Man 2, the part that appealed to me most
about her was her dedication and just her intelligence.
I think you need smart people in a movie like that.
There's too much up for grabs.
There's too many things that change.
And you need somebody who's going to be a steward of their character.
"Cordon off all access to the track...
- "and clear the airspace for whoever needs." - We got it?
MAN: Here we go. - Ding!
Scarlett was just a dream.
You know, she's so game. And she had a really good time doing it.
I'm my own, my own secret weapon.
Unlike some of us, uh, older, uh, curmudgeons,
there's very little you can do to get under her skin.
She's just consummately professional.
JOHANSSON: I love playing this character.
When we first met Natasha in Iron Man 2
she was Natalie and, you know,
you got to see her, kind of, undercover work
and, you know, it wasn't until the end of that film
her true identity was revealed as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. How do you do it?
You just tear things. You're a triple imposter.
I've never seen anything like you.
Is there anything real about you?
- Do you even speak Latin? - Fallaces sunt rerum species.
Which means? Wait, what? What'd you just say?
It means you can either drive yourself home
or I can have you collected.
JOHANSSON: In Avengers, we see, of course, her in her own environment.
Just like Budapest all over again!
You and I remember Budapest very differently.
JOHANSSON: We get to see a little bit more of who she is,
a little bit of her history, of her, kind of, shady past.
I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.
Can you wipe out that much red?
Dreykov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The hospital fire?
Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red.
You pretend to be separate, to have your own code,
something that makes up for the horrors,
but they are part of you. And they will never go away.
JOHANSSON: With the second Cap,
the character starts to question her own identity,
question her own choices.
I thought I knew whose lies I was telling,
but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore.
She's an isolated character.
Cap doesn't know whether he can trust her or not,
so she is not part of the family, per se,
because she's never been taught to rely on anyone other than herself.
And she has a view of the world
that is skeptical, and cynical,
and her and Cap grow over the course of that movie
and he teaches her trust.
You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone
when you don't know who that someone really is.
Who do you want me to be?
How 'bout a friend?
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Well, there's a chance you might be
in the wrong business, Rogers.
JOHANSSON: In Avengers 2,
she really, you know, allowed herself to want things
and to envision a life for herself outside of the things
that have kind of fallen upon her.
I have no place in the world.
MADAME B: Exactly.
KEVIN FEIGE: And you realize how strong she was
to have come out the other side
and to be a part of this very heroic team.
JOHANSSON: Her past is something that's always been shrouded in mystery
and, you know, we continue to open up the story,
give little, kind of, tidbits
and throw the bone out once in a while
as to where she came from and what her background is.
NATASHA: I had this dream,
the kind that seems normal at the time,
but when you wake...
What did you dream?
That I was an Avenger.
That I was anything more than the assassin they made me.
In Civil War, she starts to realize
that the Avengers are her family.
And she makes a choice to try to preserve the family.
NATASHA: We've made some very public mistakes.
We need to win their trust back.
That's what makes this character really heroic
is that she's, kind of, dug her heels in and said,
"Look, you know, I could kind of go down this road,
"which would be the more desirable road personally,
"and disappear and live off the map."
But she chooses this, kind of, greater calling.
NATASHA: Just because it's the path of least resistance
doesn't mean it's the wrong path.
Staying together is more important than how we stay together.
ANTHONY RUSSO: Part of the reason
why the Avengers failed in Infinity War
is because they were divided, because of the fallout of Civil War.
Natasha's a very strategic fighter
and she I think is really just trying to give whatever she can
in order to save as many people as possible.
NATASHA: He did exactly what he said he was gonna do.
Thanos wiped out 50% of all living creatures.
JOE RUSSO: At the beginning of Endgame, she wants to bring it all back
because she feels like it is the strongest emotional connection
that she's ever had in her life.
She's struggling to deal with the fact that they lost.
And she hasn't stopped.
Five years later, she's still fighting
to figure out how to fix this problem and she hasn't let go.
She has to do everything in her power to undo what Thanos did.
JOE: She's presented with a choice:
she has to give her own life to bring everyone else back
and she does it,
which is the most, single most heroic moment
in the history of the Marvel Universe.
It's okay.
I actually think that in some weird,
and it is a very emotional thing,
but some weird twisted-up fateful way,
this character who, you know,
has searched her whole life for a purpose,
actually finds her purpose.
And it's like this amazing, super-emotional, beautiful thing.
You know what I've become.
Oh, I don't judge people
on their worst mistakes.
Maybe you should.
You didn't.
I feel very fortunate.
It's been an incredible gift as an actor
to be able to come back to a character that's as complex as Natasha.
I think there's, kind of, a lot to explore there
and that is so exciting.