As one of the six original Avengers, Scarlett Johansson has been playing Black Widow, otherwise known as Natasha Romanoff , for the better part of a decade. But being one of the fittest forces in the MCU didn’t come easily… at all.
Scarlett Johansson made her MCU debut back in 2010, when she first portrayed Black Widow in Iron Man 2. Since then, she’s had to maintain a high level of fitness. Following the release of Avengers: Endgame in April 2019, her personal trainer Eric Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Of course, she’s taken on plenty of other physically demanding roles outside of the Marvel Universe, like her roles in Lucy and Ghost in the Shell. As she told E! News, getting herself in fighting shape for Ghost in the Shell was no walk in the park:
Even though Johansson was a total stranger to the gym when she was cast as Black Widow, it sounds like they’re old friends now.
So how did she go from being a total noob to getting totally ripped? As her trainer Eric Johnson points out, Black Widow is no ordinary role:
“We’re trying to create this crazy comic book hero in real life with [someone] who’s normal.”
The workout routine is truly extraordinary. Let’s see if you think you can handle it.
The actress has been training with Johnson since 2009, but working out didn’t necessarily come naturally to her. In 2019, Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter that her first rope climb was something of a disaster:
“On the way up, she kneed me in the face and gave me a nice b***** nose, she was celebrating and I’m fighting back tears, gushing blood.”
But she learned quick. Johansson was reportedly way more competent by the time she filmed The Avengers, according to Hollywood stuntwoman Heidi Moneymaker. Incidentally, Heidi’s sister Renae is also a stuntwoman. Keep watching the video to see how Scarlett Johansson got ripped to play Black Widow!
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Beyond fit | 0:13
Learning the ropes | 1:26
Sneaky on-set sessions | 2:09
The almost-vegan Avenger | 2:54
Working out “like a guy” | 3:36
12-hour fasts, anyone? | 4:24