(Photo: Marvel Studios)

In many ways, Black Widow actress Scarlett Johanson is to this Civil War what Peter Parker was to the original comic. Peter acted as the avatar for the reader throughout the original event, allowing us to see both sides of the conflict as well as empathize with the sense of loss one experiences when they have to choose a side against friends.

Black Widow looks to take a similar journey in Captain America: Civil War, part of which we even see in the initial trailers. Screenwriter Christopher Markus elaborated on this aspect of her character.

“It’s difficult, because she’s not trained to take sides,” said Christopher Markus. “She’s trained to be a duplicitous double-agent and have loyalties for sale. Obviously she’s well on her way to not being that person, but it’s still… standing up next to someone and taking a side and going, ‘No, I believe in this,’ is counter to her nature. So it’s, in a way, almost tougher for her than anybody to go, ‘This is my side and I’m sticking to it.'”

Director Joe Russo seconded that, and also compared her character arc in the film to AMC's Breaking Bad.

“We made some strong choices with Natasha in this movie and it’s a tricky arc that she has to play in the film. You always want to surprise people, you don’t want to make choices that are easy. I always said what I loved about Breaking Bad is that Vince Gilligan always wrote himself into the hardest corner. I would watch an episode and go, ‘I have no f—king idea how he’s going to solve this next week,’ and he would solve it. That’s compelling narrative, that’s compelling storytelling to me. We made a similar choice with her on this film, but it’s tricky because you have to monitor constantly throughout the filmmaking to make sure you’re getting the subtleties of the arc and what she’s doing”

Natasha has spent so much time with both Iron Man and Captain America, that watching her wrestle with the emotions and feelings that come with aligning against the other should provide some compelling character development. While she might be team Iron Man right now, who knows if that is where she ends up by the end of the film.

via Nerdist