Where is Black Widow during Captain Marvel’s timeline?

From the beginning, Black Widow was the woman to watch out for as a kick-butt female hero. Where does she fit into Captain Marvel’s timeline?

Captain Marvel is adding to the list of already great female superheroes. Her strength, resilience, and overall superhuman powers are something to be admired. A lot of these traits are seen in the other ladies of Marvel, especially in the one who started it all: Natasha Romanoff.

Who is the mysterious Black Widow and where did she come from? Do she and Carol Danvers have more in common than we think?

While we aren’t getting a Black Widow movie until 2020, which will likely tell us more about her background, here’s what we know so far about her and where she falls in Captain Marvel’s timeline.

According to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database, Natasha Romanoff was born in 1984 in Russia. At a young age, Natasha was taken in by the Red Room, a Russian organization that turned young girls like Natasha into assassins and undercover spies. This led her to become one of the KGB’s top spies, and she even encountered The Winter Soldier during her time as a deadly assassin.

Black Widow didn’t become the agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. we know today until Clint Barton spared her life and recruited her after being sent to assassinate her for her crimes.

There’s no indication of when this happened, but we do know she’s definitely on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s side when she’s sent to keep in an eye on Tony Stark by the late 2000s. So with that, it’s likely that in 1995 during the events of Captain Marvel, 11-year-old Natasha is still being trained and readied to be a young spy for Russia.

Though seemingly stoic and not one to make friends once she joins S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers, she manages to capture the attention of her team members who not only see her as a valuable addition to the team, but also as a friend. As seen in a lot of the Marvel movies, Clint and Steve Rogers were especially quick to become close with the female assassin, and their on-screen chemistry is something that fans pay close attention to.

From there, Natasha became an irreplaceable asset to the original Avengers team. Intelligent, with impressive combat skills, and able to easily manipulate others, Black Widow had no trouble fitting in despite not having any powers like some of her other team members. She always manages to stay level headed, even in situations where things look worse for wear.

It’s only a matter of time before we see both Carol Danvers and Natasha fighting side by side in Avengers: Endgame. If Marvel ever decides to make an all-female superhero movie, these two would definitely be a great addition.