Scarlett Johansson is the Black Widow

Posted on July 17, 2009

Entertainment Weekly has the Scarlett Johansson first photos from Iron Man 2 and they look amazing. Actress Scarlett Johansson plays the infamous Black Widow.

Adding more flesh and blood to the new movie, Scarlett Johansson joined the cast as Stark's mysterious new assistant, Natasha, who has an alter ego of her own, Black Widow. That introduction inevitably sparks romantic tension between Stark and former assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), who's been promoted to CEO of Stark Industries. "The men want it to be, like, 'Ooh, the girls are fighting over Tony,' but it's not as standard as that," says Paltrow. "There's a weird male catfight fantasy. Downey agrees. He believes what differentiates the franchise from other superhero series can be summarized as follows: "We're horny. Not, like, can't-bring-your-kids horny, but just...horny."

Why in the world is Robert Downey, Jr. on the cover of EW flanked by Scarlett and Mickey Roarke? Where is Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts? We suppose the photographer was going for "the hero surrounded by villains" but it's not working. Gwynnie should have been on the cover. Clearly, the photographer is not a GOOP fan.

But back to Scarlett. Another photo of her from the film can be found on Slashfilm. Here's a great fight scene clip featuring the Black Widow.

Scarlett talks about her character in a video from AMC Theaters. She says she hopes the fans are inspired by her interpretation of the character.