Scarlett Johansson's superhero Iron Man 2. Despite not having a standalone movie until 2021, Black Widow became a fan-favorite recurring character and one of the most prominent characters in the entire MCU.
Black Widow's story in the MCU began as a covert agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and then saw her become an original member of the Avengers, go on the run multiple times, and finally concluded in long-awaited Black Widow solo film. Through her ongoing roles, the MCU fleshed out several parts of her backstory and days as a superhero, even if she didn't get the screentime of Captain America, Iron Man, or Thor, who each received their own solo movie trilogies (and more in Thor's case).
Most fans have long had the desire to see more of Avengers: Infinity War. The solo film will put Natasha Romanoff in the spotlight like never before and reveal much more about her life, even before becoming an Avenger. However, the MCU has revealed more about Black Widow's life than some might realize thanks to exposition dialogue, flashbacks, and her actual movie appearances. Here's Black Widow's complete MCU timeline explained.
Natasha's Red Room Training
Several years after Natasha was born in 1984, she was recruited by the KGB as a young girl to the Red Room Academy. This is where the orphan started down the path to becoming one of Russia's best spies. This is where she met Dreykov, who is the leader of the Red Room. The Red Room trained her in the art of espionage and taught her all the necessary skills so she could become a useful tool in the years to come.
Black Widow's Family Is Broken
In one of Natasha's earliest assignments as a member of the Red Room, she was grouped with other spies to form an undercover Russian family posing as Americans. This included Alexei Shostakov, a.k.a. Red Guardian (David Harbour), as her father, Melina Vostokoff, a.k.a. the Iron Maiden (Rachel Weisz), as her mother, and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) as her younger sister. However, the mission resulted in the family being split apart and fracturing the relationship formed between them.
Natasha Graduates From The Red Room
Natasha's training in the Red Room continued and saw her rise further through the ranks to become the top spy in the system. She was an expert marksman and was forced to kill an innocent man as part of the Black Widow program graduation ceremony. This also included the Red Room sterilizing her to avoid any potential distractions for her down the road. Natasha earned the title of Black Widow at this time and began making a name for herself due to her particular set of skills. During this time, she got plenty of red on her ledger, including what happened to Dreykov's daughter, a hospital fire, and more.
Black Widow s S.H.I.E.L.D.
As Black Widow's reputation rose, she quickly became someone Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. kept an eye on. Fury eventually deemed her a threat to national security and sent Clint Barton aka Hawkeye to kill her. However, Barton made a different call and recruited Natasha to change her life and come work for S.H.I.E.L.D. instead. She accepted this invitation and began working with S.H.I.E.L.D., where she became a close confidant of Fury and developed a close friendship with Hawkeye.
Budapest Mission
During Natasha's years as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she and Hawkeye went on many missions together. The most infamous of them is their trip to Budapest. The MCU has kept details about the mission to a minimum. Still, it seemingly involved a lot of action and a dire situation based on Natasha's comment in The Avengers that the Battle of New York reminded her of what happened to her and Hawkeye in Budapest. The truth will be revealed during Black Widow in some fashion.
Natasha's Undercover Work
Throughout her years as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Natasha built up an impressive résumé to help with her undercover work. She modeled as "Natalie Rushman" from 2004 to 2007. Natasha also received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in history by the end of 2007. She went on to attend Harvard University, too, and become an intern at Hammer Industries. This was shortly before she eventually worked to stop Justin Hammer's plans in Iron Man 2.
Winter Soldier Attacks Black Widow
Another one of Natasha's missions in 2009 brought her face-to-face with the Winter Soldier. S.H.I.E.L.D. assigned her to protect a nuclear scientist during a global trip. Natasha and the scientist made it from Iran to Ukraine before Hydra's super-soldier assassin intercepted them. They were run off a cliff, but Natasha saved them both. The Winter Soldier was still in pursuit, though, and killed the scientist by shooting Black Widow through the abdomen. She attempted to hunt down the Winter Soldier but was unable to track him down.
Iron Man 2
Black Widow's story on-screen began in Iron Man 2. The movie is set in 2010 based on in-movie evidence, but the Marvel tie-in comic Fury's Big Week places it in 2011. Regardless of the specific year that the movie takes place in, it doesn't impact Iron Man 2's events in Black Widow's overall story. The movie shows her work as an undercover agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. when Fury assigns her to keep an eye on Tony Stark. Natasha was tasked with watching over Stark after selling his company to Pepper Potts and secretly assessing whether or not he would be a fit for the Avengers Initiative. She worked for Stark Industries in secret for an unspecified amount of time before revealing herself to be the Black Widow to Tony Stark. Natasha remained undercover at Stark after this incident and eventually pursued Ivan Vanko. Black Widow was responsible for hacking Vanko's coding to give Rhodey control of the War Machine armor again. She also ultimately recommends that Iron Man is a fit for the Avengers Initiative, but Tony Stark is not.
Black Widow's Other Missions
Between her live-action appearances in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, Marvel tie-in comics revealed Black Widow went on several missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. This included visiting Culver University and witnessing Bruce Banner turning into Hulk against Emil Blonsky and Thunderbolt Ross' army before eventually seeing Hulk and Abomination's clash in Harlem from a distance. She also went on a mission to Russia to search for stolen Stark Industries weapons. This eventually led Natasha to weapons dealer Georgi Luchkov.
The Avengers
Black Widow's second MCU appearance in The Avengers brings her story up to 2012 when she is in the middle of an interrogation with Luchkov. She is called into action by S.H.I.E.L.D. after Loki takes the Tesseract and begins mind-controlling Hawkeye. Coulson tasks Natasha with bringing in the "big guy," which she thinks is Stark initially before it is clarified this means Hulk. Black Widow travels to India to persuade Bruce Banner to help S.H.I.E.L.D. track down the Tesseract due to his expertise with gamma radiation. Natasha becomes one of the original six of the Avengers and plays a major role in the Battle of New York. This is her first known encounter with aliens, but Black Widow isn't fazed in the slightest. It is she who ultimately shuts off the Tesseract portal device atop Stark Tower using Loki's scepter.
