It takes a lot to scare the unflappable secret agent known as the Black Widow, but in 2012’s The Avengers she’s undeniably terrified of Bruce Banner… because she’s already seen first-hand what he can do as the Hulk. While the MCU characters formally met for the first time in The Avengers, they have a secret history in movie canon that deepens their connection.
In 2012’s The Avengers, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow tricks Bruce Banner into a situation where he’s surrounded by SHIELD operatives, hoping to recruit him. Mark Ruffalo’s Banner isn’t happy, and pretends to lose his temper to scare the super-spy, prompting her to aim a gun at his head in terror.
However, Natasha has seen and been through a huge amount in her life as a spy, so why was she so viscerally scared of Banner turning into the Hulk? It turns out, she was present for the events of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, and was even injured by the Green Goliath. Their hidden past is revealed in the canonical tie-in comic The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week, from Eric Pearson, Christopher Yost, and a host of artists.
Black Widow Was Present for 2 Major Hulk Battles
Natasha Was Behind the Scenes of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk
2008’s The Incredible Hulk follows the Hulk as he attempts to escape attacks by General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross and Emil Blonsky, who eventually becomes the Abomination. However, Bruce Banner (then played by Edward Norton) was already under SHIELD surveillance at this time. The Avengers Prelude: Fury’s Big Week reveals that Black Widow was posing as a student, and was present for both Hulk’s battle at Culver University and his fight with the Abomination in Harlem. Black Widow was even injured when a building fell on her, admitting to Fury that she felt like she needed to see a psychiatrist after the experience.
Black Widow Was Traumatized by Hulk Before She Met Banner
Hulk Changed How Natasha Saw Superhuman Conflict
Experiencing the Hulk’s rage and power convinced Black Widow that SHIELD simply wasn’t ready for true superhuman problems, and her feedback prompted Fury to face down the World Security Council and demand more resources for his Avengers Initiative. So when Natasha meets Bruce in The Avengers, it’s having experienced the destructive potential of several gamma monstrosities (including Samuel Sterns’ Leader, whose transformation into a gamma being is actually shown in the comic.)
Natasha’s prior experiences of the Hulk make her later romance with Bruce Banner even more meaningful, as their first meeting wasn’t as humans (as he likely believes), but when the Hulk was tearing through a university campus and brawling with the army. Natasha managed to overcome this violent, traumatizing original encounter to see the human underneath the surface, but it’s clear that on their “first” meeting, she’s still terrified Banner will Hulk out.
While the canon comic is a lesser-known aspect of Marvel movie lore, the context of Black Widow encountering the Hulk prior to The Avengers helps give more meaning to her interactions with Banner and the Jade Giant throughout the MCU.
