Scarlett Johansson Once Shared She kept Shredding Her ‘Black Widow’ Costume in ‘The Avengers’
Scarlett Johansson had to get used to wearing her Black Widow costume, especially in the 2012 Marvel film The Avengers. Johansson confided she experienced the most frustrations with her superhero outfit in the team-up flick.
Why Scarlett Johansson felt like a ‘discount Widow’ in ‘The Avengers’
Johansson’s Black Widow costume was initially a fashion choice she had to get accustomed to. She’d done research on her character beforehand, so the actor wasn’t completely blindsided by her new superhero wardrobe. But even all of her research didn’t completely prepare Johansson for what she was about to wear.
“I knew it was going to be some kind of sexy unitard, because I had researched the character in the comics,” Johansson once told Sci-Fi Movie Page. “I’ve never worn anything like it before, so I had a freak-out moment that lasted about half a day, but then I said ‘Okay, time to suck it up’ and just went full force into getting in shape to wear the costume and perform the physical action so it looked just right.”
Johansson would wear a few variations of her Black Widow outfit throughout her appearances in the Marvel franchise. But the first Avengers was when her costume caused her the most trouble. In a resurfaced interview with ABC News, Johansson confided that the scorching heat turned her costume into a “wetsuit” while filming the movie.
“It was so hot, I would wring out my socks at the end of the day,” Johansson said.
While doing stunts, Johansson would also keep shredding her Black Widow suit in the process, which had to frequently be replaced.
“They’re like tires,” Johansson said. “You would just go through sets of them. Every time you get a new costume, you just feel real nice and then three days later, it’s like the discount Widow.”
The Black Widow costume idea that Scarlett Johansson quickly killed
Although Johansson initially had issues with the costume, she quickly grew to enjoy her superhero look.
“I mean, in Iron Man 2, I worked with the amazing incredible costume designer Mary Zophres, who created an absolutely beautiful femme fatale look for the character. And it was very stunning,” Johansson said in a fairly recent interview with Fatherly.
Johansson brought attention to the fact that Black Widow’s costume had changed over the years since then. Each of her Black Widow costumes were representative of the character’s growth. But there was one Black Widow costume idea in The Winter Soldier that Johansson felt went too far.
“In some [ways] I look at it as a costume she was wearing — at the time, Marvel was interested in the character being a shape-shifter. When we were doing Captain America: The Winter Soldier — this is a really funny thing — the look is fantastic and utilitarian. She first drives up in this beautiful car and picks up Cap, and initially in the script, it was like, she arrives in her tennis whites, with a blonde wig. It was very quickly killed,” she said.
Scarlett Johansson recently shared her days in the Black Widow costume are over
The 2021 movie Black Widow may have been the last time audiences have seen Johansson in the superhero outfit. In an interview Johansson did with Variety not too long ago, she ruled out returning to the franchise.
“Yeah, I am sad, of course,” she said. “I absolutely loved every filming experience I had, working 10 years with Marvel and with that amazing cast, and I love the character Natasha. I have a lot of empathy for her, and it was amazing to build that character over such a long period of time.”
As much as Johansson cherished those moments, completing her Black Widow journey was bittersweet.
“I also feel really good about her story coming to a close. I think she has a lot of dignity in her legacy,” Johansson added.
