(Photo: Marvel Studios)

When Avengers: Age of Ultron came to theaters, the story arc for Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson, became the subject of some controversy. Some fans of director Joss Whedon’s use of the character in The Avengers felt betrayed by Natasha’s story arc in the sequel, which they felt stripped the character of her agency and reduced her to a romantic subplot trope.

Fans and pop culture critics continue to debate Widow’s Age of Ultron arc, and Johansson seems pleased that they care enough argue.

“You know, I’m happy that people scrutinize the Widow’s storylines and care about it and are invested,” she tells Entertainment Weekly. “I’d much rather it be like that than have a kind of ‘meh’ reaction. For me to have people say that would be, ouch, you know? Everything that I’ve done with the Widow, to me makes sense. It’s in line with active decisions that I’ve made for the character. I’ve been able to develop this character very closely with Joss and [Civil War directors Joe and Anthony Russo].”

Johansson says that she had significant input into Natasha’s controversial romance with Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk.

“Of course. And what her motivation is for making the decisions that she does. I had a lot of conversations with Joss about what she sees in Banner. Or why is she, at this point in her life, able to be open in this way? We both followed that storyline with a lot of confidence that it was the right arc for my character up until that point.”

And a strong reaction – even one fueled by controversy – is better than no reaction.

“Yes, of course! That’s better than the mediocre reaction, definitely. We expect that. The character is so beloved. You can only hope that people are going have opinions about it, you know? She somehow ends up always on top, even if you’re not always in agreement with how she gets there.”

Black Widow returns to action in Captain America: Civil War. Check out when this movie and other movies are coming out in ComicBook.com's Movie Release Schedule.