Skip to main content
  • TotalFilm
  • Edge
  • Newsarama
  • Retrogamer
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
Don't miss these
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams wearing a red suit and sunglasses in Wonder Man
Marvel TV Shows Marvel supported Wonder Man despite bad test screenings, but it "almost didn’t survive" the big MCU strategy shift
Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, and Wyatt Russell as US Agent in Thunderbolts
Marvel Movies Marvel star Lewis Pullman puts Avengers: Doomsday cameo overload fears to rest: "Every character has their moment"
Chris Evans as Cap in the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer
Marvel Movies Avengers: Doomsday release date, cast, plot, trailer, and more news
Hawkeye
Marvel TV Shows Wonder Man showrunner reveals Hawkeye went through massive changes weeks before filming
Avengers: Secret Wars - three Spider-Men during the Marvel movie No Way Home
Marvel Movies Avengers: Secret Wars release date, cast, plot, and more news
Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams in Wonder Man
Marvel TV Shows Marvel's Wonder Man drops out of the streaming top 10 after only 2 weeks on Disney Plus
Yahya Abdul Mateen II in Wonder Man (2025)
Marvel TV Shows Wonder Man reviews, cast, plot, and everything there is to know about the Marvel show
Thunderbolts
Marvel Movies More Avengers: Doomsday reshoots are on the way, but Disney executives are reportedly pleased with footage of the film
Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Simon Williams in Wonder Man.
Superhero Shows Marvel fans are discussing a potential Wonder Man season 2 as they hope for a West Coast Avengers team-up storyline
Chris Evans as Cap in the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer
Marvel Movies Thor star Chris Hemsworth praises Steve Rogers' surprise Avengers: Doomsday teaser
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Doomsday, holding a baby
Marvel Movies The first Avengers: Doomsday trailer is now officially online, as the Russo Brothers explain why they brought Cap back
Chris Evans as Captain America in Avengers: Endgame
Marvel Movies The first official Avengers: Doomsday teaser is here, and the 12-month countdown is on
James Marsden as Cyclops in Avengers Doomsday
Marvel Movies Cyclops actor says Marvel is "giving everybody what they want" in Avengers: Doomsday, and X-Men fans will be happy
The Great Lakes Avengers sitting around a table in a diner
Marvel TV Shows The MCU might slowly be assembling the weirdest Avengers team ever
David Harbour as Red Guardian in Thunderbolts
Marvel Movies David Harbour teases the scale of Avengers: Doomsday: "I thought that Stranger Things 5 was big"
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies
  3. Superhero Movies

Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson initially thought The Avengers would be "a disaster"

News
By Stephanie Williams published 26 March 2021

Black Widow thought the idea of The Avengers was a wild concept too

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow
(Image credit: Disney)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson initially thought The Avengers would be "a disaster", revealing her original thoughts in a new interview. 

Johansson shared the thoughts she had about the early days of the MCU and what it was liked to be pitched the idea for The Avengers after filming her debut in Iron Man 2.

In the interview with The Gentlewoman, Johansson said: "Even the thought of all of us together in our superhero costumes sounded like it was going to be a disaster. Not a disaster, but, like, What is this? What is this?"  

You may like
  • Brie Larson as Captain Marvel in The Marvels Nia DaCosta holds no ill will towards Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios after The Marvels flopped
  • David Harbour as Red Guardian in Thunderbolts David Harbour teases the scale of Avengers: Doomsday: "I thought that Stranger Things 5 was big"
  • Eternals Chloé Zhao says Eternals wasn't high on Marvel's priority list: "It [was] only on their list of potential players"

But, she came around to it eventually – sharing the exact moment during the filming for the 2012 blockbuster that changed her mind. 

"I remember doing that 360 shot, and we’re standing in the rubble of Grand Central or whatever, of this alien onslaught, and all of us are ready, like: Here we go, this is it. And then they showed us the playback, and I think that was the moment that all of us, finally, after six months of shooting, were, ‘Oh, this is going to work. I think this is going to work.'"

The first Avengers movie went on to gross over $1.5 billion at the global box office and set the stage for the next two phases of Marvel Studios releases. Johansson went on to reprise her role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Now her character is finally getting her own solo movie after making the ultimate sacrifice in Endgame. 

A sacrifice Johansson feels was the right call. In an interview with Total Film Johansson explained why she was at peace with Natasha’s ending: 

Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

“She’s had an incredible 10-year journey, and I felt that she was finally able to make an active choice...She’s made peace with that, and, in some ways, has known that’s her destiny all along, in a weird poetic way. When you look back on the films, that’s in there.”

Johansson will reprise her role as the expert level assassin in Black Widow – which recently got a July 9 release date – debuting in theaters and Disney Plus with an additional cost for subscribers. 

For now though, why not check out the best movies on Disney Plus to watch right now

TOPICS
Disney Plus
CATEGORIES
Disney Plus Streaming Services
Stephanie Williams

Stephanie is a comic book historian and pop culture critic for publications including SYFYFANGRRLS, Marvel, The A.V. Club, Nerdist, Den of Geek, and Rotten Tomatoes. Stephanie is also a comic creator with three ongoing webcomics, Parenthood Activate!, But What If Though?, and Living Heroes. She made her Marvel debut with a short story featuring Monica Rambeau in Marvel’s Voices: Legacy. She recently made her DC Comics debut in Wonder Woman Black and Gold #2 and is co-writing the Nubia and the Amazons miniseries.

Read more
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel in The Marvels
Nia DaCosta holds no ill will towards Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios after The Marvels flopped
 
 
David Harbour as Red Guardian in Thunderbolts
David Harbour teases the scale of Avengers: Doomsday: "I thought that Stranger Things 5 was big"
 
 
Eternals
Chloé Zhao says Eternals wasn't high on Marvel's priority list: "It [was] only on their list of potential players"
 
 
Chris Hemsworth as Thor in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer
Marvel fans don't think Avengers: Doomsday can beat Infinity War's $2 billion box office haul: "Not a chance"
 
 
Ghost, Bob, Yelena, and John Walker peeking around a corner in Thunderbolts
Avengers: Doomsday star says the movie is like "the Met Gala full of superheroes": "I was truly flabbergasted"
 
 
Valkyrie in Thor: Love and Thunder
MCU star Tessa Thompson is keen to return to that universe, it just might not be in Avengers: Doomsday
 
 
Latest in Superhero Movies
Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, and Wyatt Russell as US Agent in Thunderbolts
Marvel star Lewis Pullman puts Avengers: Doomsday cameo overload fears to rest: "Every character has their moment"
 
 
Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim in Sinners
Sinners star Delroy Lindo told director Ryan Coogler that he wants to be in Black Panther 3 "if the stars line up"
 
 
Ben Affleck in Zack Snyder's Justice League
Zack Snyder would "still make Dark Knight Returns as a film" even though he admits he did "steal" from the comic
 
 
Doctor Strange wearing cape
10 years on, Marvel fans are still confused over the Doctor Strange post-credits scene: "Did Marvel forget about that?"
 
 
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff in the upcoming movie, Kraven the Hunter.
Sony CEO confirms Spider-Man spin-off universe will get total reboot, but says partnership with Marvel is "great"
 
 
Tom Hardy as Venom symbiote in Venom 2018
Sony's Venom lives on with new animated movie from Final Destination: Bloodlines directors and producer Tom Hardy
 
 
Latest in News
Elsa Bloodshot in Marvel Rivals
Marvel Rivals devs felt "panic" at the thought of going into the live-service graveyard that just claimed Highguard
 
 
Palworld Pal with shocked expression
"I wouldn't rule out a Palworld 2.0," says Pocketpair publishing head, but don't expect a "No Man's Sky situation"
 
 
Dafne Keen brandishing her claws as Laura/X-23 in Deadpool and Wolverine
Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
 
 
Peak mesa biome
Peak came about after a bet between Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure leads to see whose game would sell more
 
 
Key art for Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred showing Mephisto, a spiky and angular demon, against a red, lightning backdrop, arm and claw raised menancingly, cropped to show more of him
Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred expansion will be "really f*cking hard" at its highest difficulty, dev threatens
 
 
Jin, Mugen, and Fuu standing in a row
Samurai Champloo is getting a live-action Netflix series from One Piece studio, and the original creator is on board
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Elsa Bloodshot in Marvel Rivals
    1
    Marvel Rivals devs felt "panic" at the thought of going into the live-service graveyard that just claimed Highguard
  2. 2
    Diablo 4's Lord of Hatred expansion will be "really f*cking hard" at its highest difficulty, dev threatens
  3. 3
    Marvel fans are debating whether Dafne Keen should become Wolverine or stay as X-23, and I've already chosen a side
  4. 4
    "I wouldn't rule out a Palworld 2.0," says Pocketpair publishing head, but don't expect a "No Man's Sky situation"
  5. 5
    Peak came about after a bet between Content Warning and Another Crab's Treasure leads to see whose game would sell more

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...