Scarlett Johansson‘s Black Widow sported a handful of different hairstyles throughout her tenure in the MCU, from her first appearance in Iron Man 2 to her final appearance in Black Widow. The film was a slightly grittier look at the superhero character, taking us back to her origin as well as her time directly before Avengers: Infinity War, and the character almost got a more severe style to match the tone of the movie.
Black Widow has sported numerous looks in both the comics and on-screen but there was one iconic look from the comics that we almost got for the character in her solo film, Black Widow, which was ultimately scrapped — the short crop. The concept designs, however, can be found in Marvel’s Black Widow: The Art of the Movie book which gives fans an insight into what went into making the movie, which also includes concept art for characters and alternative costume choices.
The character has worn a very similar style to this on a handful of occasions within the comics, and it isn’t as if the actress wouldn’t look good in it as we know that Johansson has sported this very look, though in blonde, for quite a long period of time.
Of course, though this did not end up being the final look she had her hair long finally tied back for a change. The Black Widow finally allowed audiences to see a version of the character that was less sexualized and more fight ready, and that included a more action-appropriate hairstyle.
Director of Visual Development over at Marvel Studios, Andy Park, had been designing her costumes since the first Avengers film and said that for the above look, he took inspiration from the 1980s comics, with the outfit coming out of Uncanny X-Men #268.
Ultimately, this was not the final look for the character given that she was on the run and that the story was much more gritty and less “superhero comic-esque” than previous versions of the character. It must be said, that when you are on the run and fighting, a short hairstyle will be much easier to maintain than a long one for sure.
Although her character was killed off in Endgame, we know that the actress is not done with Marvel just yet, though it is unknown exactly how she will appear in the future. She could be coming in to work behind the camera rather than in front, but if she ever did come back for a quick cameo as a multiversal variant of Black Widow, it would be great to finally get to see this style on her for a change.