15 surprising facts you didn’t know about Black Widow

Natasha was trained by Bucky Barnes

The MCU’s Natasha Romanoff shares a close friendship with Steve Rogers, but viewers rarely see her interact with his childhood friend, Bucky Barnes. In fact, Johansson’s version of Black Widow is nearly always fighting on the opposing side when it comes to Bucky. When they are finally on the same team, he’s swiftly swept away by Thanos’ snap during Avengers: Infinity War. In the MCU, a relationship between these two simply wasn’t meant to be.

Marvel Comics, however, sees Natasha and Bucky building a relationship with one another long before either becomes an Avenger. Natasha meets Bucky when she’s still a part of the USSR, and while he’s still being brainwashed as the Winter Soldier. Both find their stories wrapped up in the Red Room, and Bucky even trains Natasha. Talk about a formidable duo.

Natasha and Bucky’s comic counterparts also become romantically involved with one another, a critical turning point for both characters. They help one another realize that they’re more than just soldiers, but unfortunately, the relationship is relatively short-lived. That’s because Natasha is told to marry the very same Alexei Shostakov fans meet in Black Widow.

In the Civil War comics, Natasha and Bucky do eventually get back together, but even that is cut short by Black Widow’s death.

Clearly, this isn’t the route Marvel Studios chose to go with these characters — and with Natasha’s death in Avengers: Endgame, it doesn’t look like her path will cross with Bucky’s again. Some might consider this a missed opportunity, but building a satisfying backstory for these two would have required a few more movies. Perhaps it would have worked if Black Widow had come out earlier.