Marvel’s Avengers’ Laura Bailey Talks Becoming Black Widow, Wielding Thor’s Hammer, Scarlet Witch, and More

Marvel’s Avengers is finally out in the wild, and one of the linchpins to this new Marvel adventure is Black Widow. Above being one of the coolest characters to play as in the game, the character is also at the center of some of the best sequences and moments throughout the story, and she’s brought to life in the game by actress Laura Bailey. ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to Bailey all about this version of Widow and how her take on the character in Marvel’s Avengers differs from her past interpretations of Natasha, but we also had to talk all about the game’s epic Marvel story, what Marvel hero she would love to voice in the game next, what happened behind the scenes, and more.

First though we wanted to know how her approach to the character has evolved over the last few projects where she’s had the chance to voice Marvel’s number one super-spy.

“Oh man, I mean, I think just like growing to understand who she is more and more just keeps adding that depth to her character and really, in the Avengers game, she’s got such duplicity and she goes to a depth that I haven’t ever been able to play with her before,” Bailey said. “Like almost a vulnerability that I haven’t gotten to experience, which is really awesome. All of those struggles that she’s going through, she keeps it hidden from the rest of the Avengers up to a point. So yeah, it’s really cool to get to play a character that walks that edge so finely, and even the people that are her allies don’t know for sure if they are.”

For Bailey, Kamala Khan is the glue, and is “what makes all of us realize what we’ve lost and what we’re fighting for.” As for Widow, she brings something else to the squad. “I mean for me, humanity. Yeah, I think I’m just by her nature you know, the good isn’t something that she just comes naturally anytime she’s making the right choice, it’s a choice. And what a cool characteristic to have in a hero,” Bailey said.

The experience of bringing this game to life was a memorable one for Bailey and the entire cast, as they’ve all had the chance to work together on a variety of projects in the past, and that chemistry shines through.

“Well, I mean I just had a baby when we started filming, so it was about two months after I had my son that we got back on the stage, and I started filming,” Bailey said. “So yeah, that was a crazy time that my brain was just a little frazzled for all of it, but I mean, the memories that I take from the stage are just that camaraderie that we had between all of us because the actors that were on that game, we’ve all worked together before in the past, and we all have a history together. I think that kind of history really lent itself to us all being the Avengers because it was a natural bond already, and we didn’t have to manifest that from day one, it was just there. It was just so much fun to get to play with your best friends and heroes together and then for Sandra to come in and be that new force of enthusiasm that, like, she really was that. She really embodied that joy and that hope and we got to see her experience the joys of filming in that way and being a superhero, and it was just so wonderful.”

Some of the Avengers were able to wield some foam weapons during motion capture, including Travis Willingham, who played Thor, though he doesn’t know that Bailey would start wielding it when he wasn’t around.

“He has this in the office that I’ve been playing with,” Bailey said. “He doesn’t know yet that I’ve been picking this up. I had my batons and I had my guns which are made of rubber. They’ve got a little bit of weight but they’re not like crazy heavy or anything, but yeah, for the most part, it was stances with her. I didn’t have any like, dorky fake weapon swings that he had and I didn’t ever have to take off flying so I didn’t have to have a freeze-frame in the background.”

If you had the chance to play a superhero, you know you would be acting like a total nerd, and that was absolutely the case for the cast too.

“Those first few days with a weapon on set, everybody’s like goofing around, and in addition to that you’re playing with fake toys and everything and feeling like a superhero since you have the projection of your digital self that you can see on a screen,” Bailey said. “So you know, you’ll see yourself as Widow or as Thor, and every single person, no matter how many times you’ve done a game, you will make your character dance around and do like stupid moves and everything just because it just feels so good. You can’t believe what you’re doing even as you’re doing it.”

Bailey knocked Widow out of the park, so the question then becomes if she could play another playable hero in the game, who would it be? “Ah, my God. Scarlet Witch, I think she’s really awesome,” Bailey said. “I mean, I don’t know how you would do it, I don’t know like, I’m trying to think of what it would be Gameplay-wise.”

You can bet fans would love to see Scarlet Witch hit Marvel’s Avengers at some point, and fingers crossed it happens sooner than later.

You can catch Bailey’s performance as Black Widow in Marvel’s Avengers, which is available on current-gen consoles now. You can find even more coverage of the game right here.

You can let us know what your favorite Black Widow moment from the game was in the comments and feel free to talk all things gaming and Marvel’s Avengers with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!