‘Avengers: Infinity War’: Black Widow Initially Had a Slightly Different Look

Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow has become something of a fashion icon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: it’s been a headline-making event every time Widow changes her look. Well, Avengers: Infinity War gave Black Widow her most drastic makeover yet, with blond hair dye job and a new battlesuit.

However, as you can see in the artwork below, Infinity War‘s Black Widow could’ve had a very different kind of makeover:

This concept of Infinity War Widow was done by Marvel Studios concept artist Andy Park. It keeps the same camouflage color theme and design for the Widow’s new battlesuit, but makes the major departure of keeping Natasha Romanoff’s red hair, as well as adding the flourish of a red scarf around her neck. It’s a pretty cool look – so why did Marvel Studios leave it on the cutting room floor?

Well, as the artist himself points out in the Twitter post, the design wasn’t used for one very good reason: it’s kind of at odds with Black Widow’s Avengers: Infinity War storyline. After the events of Captain America: Civil War, Natasha was marked as a fugitive along with the rest of Captain America’s half of the Avengers team. By the time of Infinity War, Cap’s “Secret Avengers” have been simultaneously performing heroic missions and dodging capture by General “Thunderbolt” Ross for years; changing their appearance would be a key survival tactic for Cap’s team members. As the most experienced master of espionage in the group, Widow would probably make any decision other than broadcasting her red hair with a big red scarf.

The interesting thing will be seeing how Black Widow’s look changes for Avengers 4. Presumably Cap’s Secret Avengers won’t need to keep such a low profile after the losses of The Snap, so Widow may be free to go back to her usual shine.

Poor tactical function aside, how do you feel about this alternate concept for Black Widow in Avengers: Infinity War? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man and the Wasp are now available as a digital download as well as on Blu-ray and DVD. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universemovies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers 4 on May 3, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.