What's with Black Widow in The Avengers?

[Ieyke]

So I just recently re-watched The Avengers, and remembered something that bugs me every time I see it.

Why is the Black Widow so terrified of The Hulk? Beyond the typical "Holy shit it's a giant green monster" level of terrified that every natural human being has. They seem to put a lot of emphasis on showing her being almost pathologically afraid of Bruce, and I don't know why.

They hint at someone in her past messing with her head, and I guess maybe this is that? I've never read any comics related to her so I'm just speculating.

What is in BW's past that would explain her heightened level of fear of Bruce/Hulk?

Black Widow is an ex-KGB Soviet super spy. People tinkering with her head probably happened more than a little.

As for her fear of Hulk, she's a high-level SHIELD Agent and FULLY aware of who and what the Hulk is and what he's capable of.
She knows he's a hair-trigger bomb that can go off in her face and turn into an unstoppable force of destruction capable of killing ANYONE who gets in his way.
She's not used to people she can't predict and handle, much less people who she can't kill if the situation goes wrong.



Also, yes, Black Widow IS a Super Soldier. She was subject to a KGB attempt at recreating Project:Rebirth, and she's also enhanced with various biotechnologies to make her heal a bit faster, resist disease, resist aging, and other stuff.
She's kinda like a middle-ground between Cap's Super Soldier Serum and Nick Fury's Infinity Formula - not as badass as Cap, not as immortal as Fury, but much more than basic human.
How much of that applies in the movies isn't overly clear.
MCU Black Widow appears ~30 years old, but she's noted as an ex-KGB assassin. Their best and most legendary.
The KGB ceased to exist in 1991, when she would've ostensibly been 7 years old.
If her successor is anything to go by, Russia's Black Widows are recruited and employed from like 18+.
Given she's a KGB legend, she would've presumably been their Black Widow for a good long while.
Given those implications, the MCU's Black Widow is PROBABLY more like 50 years old, which would imply she has some manner of anti-aging powers like her comicbook self.
And MCU Widow has certainly suffered and recovered SUPER quickly from things that would absolutely ruin a normal human for a good amount of time, and displayed strength and dexterity that are beyond human.
I'd say the MCU Widow is fairly close to her 616 counterpart, even though they haven't had the time for elaborating on it in the movies YET.
Age Of Ultron will supposedly show up some of Widow's history, so I guess we'll see if we learn anything.

 

[Remus]

Also, in 616, it's Bobby - Mockingbird - that has the full Infinity formula injected into her. Nick Fury had a single dose left that he was saving for....whatever and gave it to Mockingbird after she nearly died from gunshot wounds. This came in handy during Fear Itself when she used the added muscle to manhandle some giant nazi death robots. Yes, Nazi Death Robots - COMICS....ARE....WEIIIIRD!!!