Black Widow: Every Avengers Character Reference & Moment Shown

Warning! This article includes SPOILERS from Black Widow.

The Black Widow movie includes multiple Avengers character and past film references. While Natasha Romanoff has been part of the MCU since Phase 1, Scarlett Johansson's character had to wait over ten years for a Black Widow solo film to happen, despite Natasha sacrificing herself in Avengers: Endgame to collect the Soul Stone. However, the solo film takes place right after the major events went down in Captain America: Civil War as it follows what Natasha was up to in Phase 3 before Avengers: Infinity War.

While the MCU has referenced Natasha's background and shown glimpses of it through flashbacks, Black Widow got to flesh it out even further. Despite not being a traditional origin story, the movie did include Natasha's life before being taken to the Red Room that changed her forever. Since Black Widow was set shortly after Captain America: Civil War, Natasha was one of the Avengers who was on the run. Normally, it's not unusual for some of the other MCU heroes to make a cameo in each other's films.

Because of what happened in Captain America: Civil War, it didn't make sense for any of them to appear in Natasha's story. However, Black Widow was able to include the Avengers through multiple references and even be shown through archive footage and photos. A lot of new characters surrounded Natasha, which allowed the Avengers to be seen from new perspectives. So what familiar MCU characters were brought up in Black Widow?

Captain America

While Chris Evans doesn't physically appear in Black Widow, Steve Rogers was referenced several times, including him still being on the run. The biggest call out to Captain America was when Alexei Shostakov, a.k.a. Red Guardian, kept trying to convince his inmates that he had fought the first Avenger. Although they didn't buy Alexei's stories, given that Steve was still frozen in ice during the 1980s. Based on how Taskmaster fought Natasha using a shield, it's fair to say that was a nod to the villain having mimicked Captain America's moves.

Iron Man

When Natasha reconnects with Yelena Belova, that is where she begins to learn about an antidote existing against the Red Room's mind control on their Black Widows. During their reunion, Yelena suggests that Natasha takes the antidote to one of her "super-scientist friends," bringing up Tony Stark as an example. Because of where they stood after Captain America: Civil War, Natasha simply says that they currently weren't on speaking terms.

Thor

One of the Avengers who was missing in Captain America: Civil War was Thor, as the God of Thunder was occupied. While Chris Hemsworth doesn't appear in Black Widow, Thor does get a humorous shout-out by Yelena when they were running away from Taskmaster. As they were getting supplies, Yelena references Thor as the God from space who probably wouldn't need to take an Ibuprofen after being in a fight.

The Winter Soldier

Blended image of Winter Soldier and Black Widow in the MCU

Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, is briefly mentioned in Black Widow when Natasha and her surrogate family were back together. As Melina Vostokoff explained what she had been up to for all these years, she references HYDRA's Winter Soldier project that Bucky was part of against his will. Black Widow also referenced Bucky's fight against Steve in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as Yelena recreated his knife technique.

Falcon

Even though Captain America and Black Widow were still on the run after the events of Civil War, that wasn't the case for all of the Avengers. Natasha managed to trick Thunderbolt Ross in the movie's first act as his squad thought they finally located her. While trying to get Natasha to surrender, Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon, is brought up as having been arrested.

Black Panther

T'Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther, didn't get off on the right foot with Black Widow and other Avengers in Captain America: Civil War. While they would become allies later on, Natasha was being hunted due to assaulting the king of Wakanda, as Ross stated. Black Panther appears in archive footage from his fight against Hawkeye, as Taskmaster was studying both of their techniques.

Ant-Man

One of the new members of the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War was Scott Lang, a.k.a. Ant-Man, who was more than excited to join the fight. In Black Widow, Thunderbolt references Scott as another arrested Avenger by comedically referring to Ant-Man as "the incredible shrinking convict." It's a good thing that Taskmaster couldn't retrieve Scott's suit because that would have made the Marvel baddie even more dangerous.

Hawkeye

While Natasha has had different dynamics with the respective Avengers, her relationship with Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, is probably the biggest. Jeremy Renner is the only Avenger to actually be remotely present in Black Widow, as Clint's voice was heard through Natasha's earpiece during their attempt to take out Dreykov. Thaddeus Ross also mentioned how they had Hawkeye in their custody.

Besides appearing in the footage with Black Panther during Taskmaster's studying, the archer plays a big role in Black Widow's post-credits scene. Sometime after Natasha's death in Avengers: Endgame, Yelena goes to visit her sister's grave. However, she's joined by Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who was there to give the MCU's new Black Widow her next assignment, which would be a personal one. Valentina shows Yelena a photo of Hawkeye, stating that the Avenger was responsible for Natasha's death.

Black Widow's post-credits scene was done to set up Yelena's return to the MCU as Florence Pugh will appear in the Hawkeye series on Disney+. In what ways Hawkeye will prove to Yelena that he did try to stop Natasha from giving up her life remains to be seen. Given how Valentina factored into Black Widow, it wouldn't be surprising if Julia Louis-Dreyfus shows up in Hawkeye next. Even though it was appropriate for the Avengers not physically to show up in Natasha's final story, it was still nice to have so many references in Black Widow.

NEXT: Black Widow's Hawkeye & Yelena Belova's Future Set Up