Marvel Studios Executive Vice President of Production Victoria Alonso recently admitted that the sexualised portrayal of Black Widow in Iron Man 2 still bothers her. Black Widow, meanwhile, will tackle the way Natasha Romanoff has previously been portrayed head-on, poking fun at the "classic" pose that's quite obviously inspired by the male gaze.
That's an issue Scarlett Johansson had to tackle in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier when she was presented with having to wear a blonde wig and skimpy tennis whites.
"In some says I look at it as a costume she was wearing — at the time, Marvel was interested in the character being a shape-shifter," she tells Fatherly. "When we were doing Captain America: The Winter Soldier — this is a really funny thing — the look is fantastic and utilitarian. She first drives up in this beautiful car and picks up Cap, and initially in the script, it was like, she arrives in her tennis whites, with a blonde wig. It was very quickly killed."
"You work with a lot of male writers," Johansson added. "Things were shifting. You have to be a part of the change. Audiences are also demanding stuff and there’s a cultural shift and it feeds everything into a more progressive direction. It’s been a process, it’s been a process."
Talking about becoming more creatively involved with how Black Widow was portrayed as time passed, Johansson did praise Natasha's Iron Man 2 costume, crediting "amazing incredible" costume designer Mary Zophres "who created an absolutely beautiful femme fatale look for the character. And it was very stunning."
It's certainly interesting to hear this insight from the actress, and it doesn't seem unfair to say that the portrayal of Black Widow on screen has definitely improved in recent years.
What do you guys think about these scrapped costume plans in Captain America: The Winter Soldier?