Scarlett Johansson is excited to reprise her role as Natasha Romanoff (The Black Widow) in Marvel’s The Avengers. And for good reason: it is the first time in her acclaimed career that the Golden Globe–nominated actress has revisited a role. “I love the character and I love playing her,” she says. “I’ve never been able to return to a character before. So, in a way, putting on the suit is like, ‘Ah, the old familiar friend.’ You know where you’re going with the character and you have all of this history to fall back on.” As the only woman on The Avengers team, Johansson finds the all-business attitude of master spy and martial arts expert Black Widow both interesting and intriguing. “Black Widow is sort of in a gray area; she’s not patriotic like Captain America. In a sense she’s been fighting the good fight, despite her dark background. But she’s committed because she has to be and her moral ground is more dutiful. She’s militaristic in that way; that’s how she knows right from wrong,” explains Johansson.

“That kind of attitude is what I love about her,” she continues. “She’s just a machine; you can’t get her down. But you can almost get her down. What I love about this film is that there are several points where you go, ‘She’s not going to get up.’”

When Black Widow was introduced to the screen in “Iron Man 2,” there was hardly any backstory about her character offered to the audience. Johansson describes her character in that film as a “slippery fish” as she explains, “We do get little glimpses of her true identity, but it all happens so quickly. In “The Avengers” we get to see a little more of who she is and a little bit of her shady past, which is exciting for me because the darker part of her nature is appealing to me as an actor.”

Creating the look for Black Widow in Marvel’s The Avengers involved studying how the character was represented in comic art and fan art over the years. From a 1960s, space-age look, Black Widow evolved over time to embrace a more utilitarian style that was both sexy and gritty. Johansson feels that the look is a combination of those utilitarian styles. “Although she’s sexy, Black Widow’s never shied away from the grittiness of the character. So, I think the look, the costume, and the hair is a combination of The Avengers, The Ultimates, and what you’ve seen in Iron Man 2.”

Johansson believes that a distinguishing feature of The Avengers is its cast. “The cast is just insane,” she enthuses. “When do you ever get to see this group of actors come together in this kind of fantasy world?”

But she is also quick to point out that the grounded nature that writer/director Joss Whedon brought to the story is also a standout element. “It’s everything Joss loves about fantasy, which is being able to escape into this ultimate kind of otherworldly reality, but still have it be heartfelt and sincere,” Johansson says.

“I think that Joss did a brilliant job by giving a nod to the fan-boy world and also giving fans of big action movies something to escape to for a couple of hours,” she concludes.

Click through the feature above for our exclusive interview and the most captivating shots from the record-breaking film.

edited by HALEH NIA